Missionary adventures in Texas and Mexico. A personal narrative of six years' sojourn in those regions

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MISSIONARY ADVENTURES

IN

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

LONDON :

IRTNTED BY SPOTTTSWOODE AND CO.
NEW-STREET SQUARE.

MISSIONARY ADVENTURES

IN

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

OF

SIX YEARS' SOJOURN IN THOSE REGIONS.

BY THE ABBE DOMENECIL

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH

UNDER THE AUTHOR'S SUPERINTENDENCE,

LONDON:

LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, AND ROBERTS,

1858.

TO

HIS LOKDSHIP DK. ODIN

BISHOP OF GALVESTON.

My Lord,

Although the number of Apostolic Labourers in our Lord's Vine-
yard is very limited in the vast diocese over which your Lordship
presides with so much zeal and self-denial, it has pleased Divine
Providence to diminish still further this number already quite inade-
quate to its wants. In some, physical strength has given way rather
than moral energy — others have succumbed to their glorious suffer-
ings— whilst others have been called away to labour in another part
of that immense field, of which it is written : " The harvest is great,
but the labourers are few."

I was very young and inexperienced, my Lord, when I consecrated
myself to this noble and laborious task ; and the fatigues and trials
which everywhere accompany the missionary, have produced in me
the saddest result. I had scarcely applied my hand to the work,
when I felt that my frail constitution did not at all correspond to the
promptings of my courage ; and, after five years' hard labour, my
shattered health obliged me to return twice to the country of my
birth to seek a remedy which I have not yet found.

And now that Providence, through the instrumentality of medical
science, has condemned me to a more sterile and quiet existence, the
memory of those fine and interesting missions, to which I was sincerely
attached, is deeply engraven on my heart, like a dream of happiness
which one remembers with regret.

a 3

vi

DEDICATION.

Being thus incapacitated from labouring on the theatre of the
missions which you have superintended with all the zeal and devoted-
ness of an apostle for such a number of years, — no longer associated^
alas ! in that good work which has enlisted all my warmest sym-
pathies,— destined never again to revisit those mixed populations
which roam through the solitudes of the new world, shut out, in a great
measure, from all spiritual help, I desire, my Lord, to unite myself at
least in spirit to your holy enterprise, and to come to its aid (if I
may be permitted to express myself thus) by proclaiming to the
world your wants, your difficulties, and the touching details of your
poverty.

It seemed to me that a complete and thorough knowledge of the
actual state of your mission could not fail to evoke the pious solici-
tude and generous assistance of your brethren in Europe, and I there-
fore decided on writing a journal of the five years' missionary life
which I spent in Texas and Mexico.

Permit me, my Lord, to inscribe your venerable name at the head
of this work.

Accept the assurance of profound respect with which I have the
honour to be, my Lord,

Your most humble and most obedient servant,

Paris: March, 1857.

Em. DOMENECH.

Missionary Priest.

PREFACE.

It was never my intention to give publicity to the
secret reminiscences of my missionary career. I love
retirement, and a natural timidity of attracting public
notice withheld me from publishing the ideas and
feelings which accompanied me in all my wanderings
over the boundless prairies of the new world, through
its primeval forests, under the thatched roof of the
emigrant's hut, and in the cabin of the Mexican. I
was very young when I devoted myself to the Church
militant of the missions, and I was well aware that im-
pressions must have naturally crowded upon me at that
time and assumed the character of circumstances which
varied every day, Besides, I dreaded the opinions of
those who measure men and things by the narrow rule
of their own habits and prejudices, and who, therefore,
form a very inaccurate notion of missions and mission-
aries, never reflecting on their own arbitrary mode of
viewing and judging, and seeming to forget that at
Rome we should live as do the Romans, and that the
most savage countries have their own usages, to which
we must accommodate ourselves a little, whilst we

A 4

VIU

PEEFACE.

strive, at the same time, either to modify them some-
what, or uproot them altogether. But in Paris, I had
occasion to meet some of the leading men in literature
and science, who pressed me to relate the story of my
wanderings in Texas and Mexico ; they listened to the
recital with a degree of interest which I dared not
presume it merited, and pressed me to publish it in all
its naive simplicity. In the hope that the publication
might prove useful to the foreign missions, I yielded at
length to their kind solicitations.

I felt that, notwithstanding the interesting letters of
missionaries which appear in The Annals of the Propa-
gation of the Faith, the life of priests who consecrate
themselves to the work of propagating the gospel, and
introducing the blessings of civilisation among people
steeped in barbarism and ignorance, is neither known
nor adequately appreciated in Europe. The mission-
aries, notwithstanding prodigious efforts of industry,
devotedness, and courage, die amid the ice of the North,
or on the sands of the desert, after having exhausted
their strength in labouring for the moral, religious, and
physical well-being of their fellow men, and this whilst
their countrymen at home make no effectual efforts to
aid them in this noble work, which causes the name of
France to be blessed by every people and in every
tongue ; for it cannot be denied that, although the work
of the missions is universal and catholic above all, yet
still it is pre-eminently French, and that nine-tenths of
the missionary priests are Frenchmen.

Pious people will ask, no doubt, are not the sums of
money distributed through the missions by the Propa-

PREFACE.

ix

gation of the Faith sufficient ? I answer no ; they are
but the grain of mustard seed which grows into a great
tree; whereas if the sums were proportionate to the
greatness of the work, they would produce the most
important and the most abundant results, and the life
of the missionary would no longer be a continual
struggle with the numberless imperative necessities
which undermine his health in a short time, and which
oblige him to exhaust, in providing for the commonest
necessities of life, those energies which are barely suffi-
cient to enable him to educate the people to whom he
breaks the bread of life.

In the first part of my journal, I have particularly in
view to portray the missionary's private life, his internal
struggles, his physical and moral sufferings. I do little
more than notice in passing a variety of other subjects,
which have but an indirect relation to his chequered and
perilous existence.

In the second part I confine myself to a description
of the manners, customs, and peculiar habits of the
American and Mexican populations that live on both
banks of the Rio Grande. But although I limit myself
to personal observation and to facts which occurred
around me, still these observations and facts apply with
equal force not only to all the new States of the Ame-
rican Union, but also to its central and western pos-
sessions.

I cherish a fond hope that in my book will be dis-
covered the impartial spirit of a man who recounts only
what he has seen, heard, and felt, and that it will, on
this account, attract the approving notice of all who

X

PKEFACE.

relish the inelaborate recitals of truth. Like the violet,
it possesses no other charm than the sweet perfume of
truth — it may be too, that like the early spring flower
its duration will be ephemeral; but of what conse-
quence to a secluded and suffering being is the glory of
the world ! No regret will accompany me into the calm
of retirement should I only succeed in awaking in some
generous souls a sentiment of pity and charity for those
destitute Christian missions to which I have sacrificed
the best years of my life — a sentiment which cannot
in its nature be sterile, but must on the contrary be pro-
ductive of the most abundant fruits, which will be no
less delicious to the giver than to the receiver.

CONTENTS,

FIRST JOURNEY,

CHAPTER I.

The Departure. — A Mass on Board. — Reverie. — The Mississippi.-—
Texas. — Its Inhabitants. — Various Forms of Worship. — History.

— Galveston. — Houston. — Posting. — Episodes of the Excursion.

— The Prairie. — The Panther. — A Storm. — A Mutiny. — The
Electors and the Violinist. — Arrival at San Antonio de Bexar. —
A Frenchman ..... Page 1

CHAP. II.

San Antonio. — Furnished Lodgings. — My Ordination. — Castro ville.
. — Domestic Scenes. — Rattlesnakes. — A Crocodile Hunt. — The
Church. — The Missionary. — The Missions — First Excursion. —
A Quid pro quo . . . . , .37

CHAP. III.

An Alarm. — Scenes in the Wilderness. — The Camp of the Leona. —
Expedition to Paso-del-Norte. — Steeple-chase on a wild Horse.-—

Fredericksburg Ruins of the Spanish Missions. — Sunset. —

The Camp of San Antonio. — A disagreeable Rencontre. —
Braunfels . . . . . .69

XII CONTENTS.

CHAP. IV.

The Cholera. — Scenes more frightful to behold than easy to describe.
—A strong Remedy. — Rodriguez and his Sons. — Lynch Law. —
Quarrel about a Hen. — A Fall. — How the longest Roads are
sometimes the best and the shortest. — Melancholy. — A fishing
Party, and an aquatic Excursion. — The Maniac of the Medina. —
A Phantom . Page 94

CHAP. V.

The Indians. — Santa Anna. — A Tragedy. — The Comanches. — The
Lipans. — A German Priest and the Red Skins. — Adventures of
a Mexican Woman. Murder of four Colonists by the Indians. —
Civilisation of the Indians Short Review of American Educa-
tion. — Extreme Unction administered with Grease. — Camp
Meetings. — Preachers in Petticoats . . .117

CHAP. VI.

A Project. — A Journey in the Prairies. — -A Night in the Tropics.
— Chit-chat in the Woods. — Lavaca. — The Fate of a Coat. — A
Jew in Reality but not so in Appearance. — Collecte. — Natchez. —
Crevasses. — A Race along the Yellow River. — Return to Texas.—
A melancholy Death. — The Future of a Missionary. — A prosy
Voyage. — A Dinner not easy to eat. — A terrible Night. — A
Tete-a-tete with Panthers. — - Arrival at San Antonio . 140

CHAP. VII.

Assassinations at San Antonio. — The Rangers. — A Party of Plea-
sure. — A Threat not followed up. — • Too many Gourds, and not
sufficient Food. — A Winter Night. — Christmas Eve. — How to
build a fine Church at a cheap Rate. — An easy Victory. —
Departure from Castroville. — My Farewell. — A Friend turned
Enemy. — A pedestrian Journey through the Prairies. — Arrival
in France ....... 175

CONTENTS

Xlll

SECOND JOURNEY.

CHAPTER I.

A Visit to the Holy Father. — Return to America. — A rather diver-
sified Voyage. — Descriptions of and Impressions thereupon. —
Sermons on Board. — An imaginary Shipwreck. — The Brazos. —
Isabella Point. — Brownsville. — New municipal Street-cutting
Regulations. — Opinion of my Parishioners about the Mission-
aries ....... Page 205

CHAP. II.

The Barilleros. — The Bar-room. — Fervour of Brownsville People.
— State of American Society in general, and of Texian in parti-
cular. — Application of Lynch Law. — Execution. Morality of
the Civic Authorities. — The Sheriff. — Two Bloodhounds as
Keepers of the Prison. — The Freemasons, and the Burial of an
Irishman. — The Magistracy in the new States of the Union. —
Partiality of the Judges. — Law Proceedings. — Elections. — A
fashionable Doctor ...... 225

CHAP. III.

A Word of double meaning. — The Minister and his Three unmar-
ried Daughters — A Renegade. — General and individual Liberty
in the United States. — Democracy. — The Frontier Mexicans. — >
Visit to Matamoros — Souvenirs of old Mexico — Mexican Life. —
The Rancheros. — Troubadours. — Poesy of the People. —Religion
of the Rancheros. — Religious Ceremonies at the Frontiers. —
Marriage of the last Scion of the Montezumas . . 244

xiv

CONTENTS.

CHAP. IV.

A Tour of Observation. — ■ The Banks of the Rio Grande. — Reynosa.
— Reynosa Vieja. — An Israelitish Bed-fellow. — Rio Grande
City. — Projects. — Meeting a Rattlesnake. — Roma. — The Alamo.
-—The Bathers. — Mier. — Embarrassing Presents. — A useful
Apparition. — Departure from Roma. — Tete-a-tete with new
Indians. — Camargo. — A Surprise. — Ranchero Marriage. —
Spiritual Relationship. — The Aurora in a Wood . Page 262

CHAP. V.

A strong Man. — A Storm in the Woods. — A serious Fall. — A dis-
agreeable Error. — Beginning of a long Fast. — A bad Night. —
Critical Journey. — The Funeral Crosses.— -Rancho de laPalma. —
Return to Brownsville. — A Confrere. — Sufferings. — Mourning. —
Medicine among the Rancheros. — The Female Weepers. — Inter-
ment of a converted Jew. — A well-spent Journey. — Cruel Separa-
tion.—Duty of Friendship ....... 282

CHAP. VI.

Extraordinary Events. — Adventures of a European. — Derangement
of a Creole. — ■ The Sect of the Vaudoux. — Dance in the midst of
Serpents. — Sorceries. — The Pioneer. — Passion for Gambling. —
History of my Guide. — The Honey Ants. — Wonderful Grotta. — ■
Secret of the Three Leaves. — Human Sacrifices of the ancient

Mexicans. — A Village Savant An open air Mass, — Parable

of the Hen and Chickens. — An unparalleled Desolation. — The
Receiver-General of Brownsville .... 303

CHAP. VII.

Manta Trade. — Carvajal. — A War of Dealers. — Commencement of

Hostilities Prudent Soldiers. — Am assailed with a Volley at

a Distance of twenty Paces, — End of the Siege of Matainoros,—

CONTENTS.

XV

Battle of Camargo. — Two Conquerors who do not doubt them-
selves.— Prisoners of War Attempts to Escape. — History of a

prudent General. — Condemnation. — Infliction of Death. — The
Holy Viaticum. — Execution. — Return to Brownsville Page 327

CHAP. VIII.

A Masquerade. — Revenge of Avalos. — Comical Heroes. — Consola-
tions. — Christmas. — Holy Week. — Captain Moses. — Toilette of
the Ranchero. — Mouth of the Rio Grande. — Nocturnal Reverie
at the Sea-side. — Bagdad. — Walk to Brazos Santiago. — Nuestra
Senora de Guadalupe. — Project. — Remarks on Mexico, and the
Invasions of the Yankees. — Adieus. — Departure. — Souvenirs 347

JOUENAL

KEPT IN

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

FIRST JOURNEY.
CHAPTER I.

THE DEPARTURE. A MASS ON BOARD. REVERIE. — THE MISSISSIPPI.

— TEXAS. ITS INHABITANTS VARIOUS FORMS OF WORSHIP. —

HISTORY. GALVESTON. HOUSTON. — POSTING. — EPISODES OF THE

EXCURSION. THE PRAIRIE. — THE PANTHER. — A STORM. A

MUTINY. THE ELECTORS AND THE VIOLINIST. — ARRIVAL AT SAN

ANTONIO DE BEXAR. A FRENCHMAN.

Towards the end of 1845, Dr. Odin, Vicar-apostolic of
Texas, came to Lyons in search of missionary priests to
minister to the spiritual wants of the rapidly-increasing
colonies of Europeans which were then settling down
in his diocese, and of the American and Mexican settle-
ments of that vast region.

The good bishop spoke with the glowing eloquence of
the heart of those distant countries, and of the hosts of
emigrants scattered through those solitudes, who would
be doomed to pass their lives destitute of the aid and
blessings of religion, if some zealous priests did not re-

B

2

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

solve to follow them through these mountains, forests,
and plains.

The pious prelate did not conceal from those who
offered to accompany him the dangers and hardships,
the sufferings and adventures of all sorts, which awaited
the missionary in those countries. " You will not al-
ways have," said he, " wherewith to satisfy the calls of
hunger and thirst. Your journeyings will be incessant,
through a country as yet but little known, and bound-
less in its extent. You will pass nights on the damp
ground, and entire days exposed to a burning sun.
Perils of every kind you will encounter, which will try
your courage and energy at every step."

I was not quite twenty years of age at the time, nor
had I entirely completed my ecclesiastical studies ; still,
feeling myself urged forward by some invisible hand to-
wards this unknown future of trials and sacrifices, I
offered the Bishop of Texas my services, which were
accepted.

On the 20th of March, 1846, the "Elizabeth Ellen,"
a beautiful American frigate, left the port of Havre
for New Orleans, conveying to the latter city a
large number of German emigrants and a few mission-
aries, myself among the number. The bishop had come
to Havre to be present at our departure, and from the
jetty gave us the episcopal benediction, which we all, on
bended knees, received with deep feelings of reverence.
Many a silent tear was shed as we bade farewell to our
beloved country, for we felt that this perhaps would be
a parting for ever ; and it is not to every man that such
strength is given as will enable him, unmoved and
unaffected, to sever all family ties and affections, to
separate himself at once and for ever from friends and

MASS ON BOARD.

3

kinsmen, and suddenly to renounce all his old habits
and predictions.

It was impossible to remain long on deck. The sea
was agitated, the wind howled through the rigging,
the storm raged around us, and sea-sickness — that
most prosaic of all maladies — drove us to our cabins
long before the French coast had disappeared from our
sight. The storm obliged us to put in at Portsmouth ;
but we started again on our journey with little delay,
and in fifteen days afterwards we were in the tropics.

During the voyage we had three deaths, three bap-
tisms, and a marriage. But the most impressive cere-
mony was a solemn high mass chanted on deck, on
the first Sunday after Easter. The sky was without a
cloud, the sea calm and unruffled. We erected our
altar on the ship's poop, and, thanks to the offerings of
the French ladies, our little chapel was as beautiful and
graceful as a reposoir on the Fete-Dieu. Nearly all
the passengers, on bended knees, and with deepest feel-
ings of reverence, assisted at the celebration of the Di-
vine mysteries.

How ineffable are the sentiments and feelings, the
crowding of heavenward thoughts and sweet consola-
tions, which are evoked by the celebration of the Divine
mysteries on the open sea ! Everything in the grand
spectacle makes its way to the soul — the immensity
of the heavens, the vastness of the ocean, the light
breeze which plays through the rigging, the tiny waves
which rise and fall without ceasing, the ambient air
filled with sweet voices and mysterious murmurings, — .
all proclaiming harmony and grandeur eternal, — Vox
Domini super aquas. It is God's own eloquence speak-
ing to the heart of man.

4

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

During the evening of that bright day I lay in my
berth at the stern of the ship contemplating the thou-
sands of stars which shone above me. The silence of
the night was only broken by the heavy, measured foot-
fall of the officer of the watch ; and, as I gave way to
reveries of a sad and mysterious charm, the past un-
folded itself before me with all the trials that beset
man's path in his pilgrimage through life. The future
was as an horizon upon which brooded clouds and tem-
pests. It seemed to me as though I had already suffered
much. I, a youth of only twenty years, seemed to have
arrived at that stage of life in which all the bounding
joys of the heart die away, one after the other, in which
hope has fled before us, and betaken herself to heaven,
that happy land which draws alike to itself our last gaze
and our fondest aspiration. It seemed as though I
lacked time to accomplish the good which I had pro-
jected ; and, feeling that I was between this human life
and life immortal, as between sea and sky, I fell asleep,
rocked by the waves and my own imagination.

On the 11th of May, we came in sight of San Do-
mingo, and for two days we coasted along its shores.
Then along the shores of Cuba, diffusing the delicious
odour of its orange groves. Then we had a passing
glimpse of Jamaica. At length on the 24th the Missis-
sippi came full in view.

A steam-tug met us here to tow us up this celebrated
river. Its waters are muddy; its banks flat, monotonous
and half submerged towards the Gulf of Mexico, stretch
along the horizon in endless prairies, with nothing to
vary the dreary landscape, save here and there a
clump of sallow trees; and a mortal ennui would
devour you, but for an occasional alligator, which,

THE MISSISSIPPI.

5

enjoying the luxuries of a bath, shows you, ever and
anon, his prickly back. As you approach New Orleans,
however, you see the tasteful residences of the planters,
built on piles, and constructed of wooden planks and
bricks. They are all of snowy whiteness, and sur-
rounded by gardens of orange trees, altheas, and tropi-
cal flowers. Hard by the planters' residences are ranged
the cabins of the negroes. Plantations of sugar-cane
and maize extend on both sides of the river. These are
bounded in the distance by the Pine Woods and Virgin
Forests.

New Orleans is merely a city of trade and commerce,
and presents few objects of attraction to the traveller.
We made but a short stay here, and embarked again on
board a steamer to ascend the river as far as St. Louis
in the State of Missouri. Twelve hundred miles of the
Mississippi were yet before me. Again appears the
same flat country, lower than the river's level, and
protected, by dint of labour, against its waters by ill-
constructed earthen embankments. The forests have
been cut down, and on the clearings grow maize, the
cotton tree, and the sugar-cane. Here and there,
half concealed by trees and flowers, are seen the trim
houses of the planters ; sometimes, too, a low hill, on
which is built a town or village, varies the scenery, but
it is of rare occurrence, and affords little relief from
the endless monotony.

After passing Natchez, about four hundred miles
above the river's mouth, you arrive at the Virgin
Forests. Gradually approaching the Mississippi, they
at length reach the water's edge, and extend along its
banks to the mouth of the Ohio, seven hundred miles
above Natchez. There the true Mississippi is seen in

6

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

all its grandeur. The eatalpa, the cotton tree, the
willow, the sallow tree, the oak, the sycamore, and
the plane tree unite their branches and blend and
harmonise their colours ; but their dark green foliage
is ill-reflected in the yellow waters of the river. The bed
of the Mississippi is immense. Sometimes, however, it
is divided by woody islands, which impart to it a more
cheering aspect. Often, too, large plantations of young
trees, sprung from seed which the wind has scattered,
display their blooming summits at different elevations,
and form, as it were, gigantic banks of luxurious vege-
tation. The silence of these deep solitudes, which have
not as yet felt man's destructive hand, is only broken
by the measured stroke of the steam engine, the clang of
the bell of the watch, and the monotonous chant of the
man heaving the lead. But the sounds are lost in space,
for these wilds, old as the world itself, disdainfully
refuse to send back any echo. No chattering of monkeys
here, no chirping of birds ; for, let travellers say
what they please, the United States possess neither
parrots nor monkeys, except in cages ; and, indeed,
singing birds are rare even in the primaBval forests.
Just as you begin to be as weary of these immense
forests as you were before of the boundless plains, you
arrive at Cairo, a town consisting of two houses and a
bridge of boats. The Americans readily give the
name of town to the spot on which they intend to
build one ; and this intention is so closely followed by
its realisation that it may be fairly announced before-
hand as a fact.

From Cairo to St. Louis is a distance of two hundred
miles. The banks of the river are elevated, picturesque,
and in a high state of culture. It is a commercial

CITY OF ST. LOUIS.

1

country, and lead is found in abundance on the Missouri
side. From St. Louis the caravans set out for Santa-Fe,
in New Mexico ; also the Trappers, so celebrated in
American novels. From St. Louis, too, go forth the
intrepid hunters who run down their rich-furred game
in the vast prairies of the West, and even to the foot of
the Rocky Mountains, where Indians are met with more
frequently than peltries, and enemies in greater numbers
than animals of the chase. St. Louis is a large city, and,
like all American towns, its streets run at right angles to
each other. Its pretty buildings, surrounded by gardens,
have won for it the surname of Queen of the West. The
environs, though well wooded, are somewhat monotonous.
The climate is intensely hot in summer, but so cold in
winter that at night I shivered with cold, notwithstand-
ing my four blankets and buffalo hide, whose shaggy
surface, moistened by my breath, was frozen into icicles.
I must confess that I was a little disappointed. Later,
indeed, my first impression has been but little modified
by my travels in the North and East. Nature in America
presents nothing new to the eye of the European traveller,
even in the vegetable world. Nowhere in the West-
ern hemisphere is she so picturesque as in Switzerland
and the Pyrenees, so gay and charming as in Tuscany,
the Romagna, and the two Sicilies, or so rich and varied
as in Lombardy and France : her peculiar characteristic
is vastness ; her rivers, forests, and woods are stupen-
dous in their proportions, and above all in superficial
extent.

I remained two years in the Ecclesiastical College of
St. Louis to finish my studies, and prepare for the
apostolic life of the missions. At the end of that
time, in May 1848, I descended the Mississippi to New

- - - . B 4

8

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Orleans, where I got on board the steamer for Galveston,
the principal port of Texas, and the episcopal residence
of this vast region. The passage is generally performed
in two days, although the distance from the one city to
the other is nearly five hundred miles. The Gulf of
Mexico is subject to storms and tempests which render
this trip very dangerous; and the greater number of
steamers on this line have been lost, either by being
dashed to pieces by the waves, or run aground on the
oyster banks.

When we reached the mouth of the Mississippi, no
breeze ruffled the sea, yet it was heaving under the
influence of some invisible power ; and in its sweeping
undulations were reflected the sombre, bloodied tints
of the sun which was setting behind mountains of
murky vapour. Here and there the heavens were over-
cast by enormous masses of clouds of crimson hue, the
air was heavy and oppressive, and the waters of the
ocean bore some resemblance to dark-brown, coagulated
oil. A tempest was at hand. It came at last, and
breaking over us with terrific violence, continued to
rage with unabated fury till next morning at daybreak.

On the morning of our arrival at Galveston, a swallow,
which had been surprised by the last evening's tempest,
took refuge in our ship. As soon as it made its appear-
ance, the passengers vied with each other in their efforts
to catch it. The poor bird, exhausted with fatigue,
alighted on one of the ropes near me. I caught it without
difficulty, caressed it, and as it was wet and trembling,
warmed it in my bosom. The little creature's courage
appeared to revive ; and I fancied that it was pleased with
my attention, as it manifested no desire to escape. Ar-
rived at Galveston, and apprehensive lest I might not
succeed in preserving its life, I gave it its liberty, with

TEXAS.

9

some regret. A regret which seemed to be participated
in by the poor bird, which was quite unwilling to leave
me. Although not naturally superstitious, yet in this
simple incident I searched for some augury, which,
however, my sterile imagination failed to suggest.

Texas is an Indian word which signifies " a hunting
ground abounding in game." Its superficial extent is
about 120,000 square miles. It is bounded on the
south by the Gulf of Mexico, on the east by the Sabina,
which separates it from Louisiana, on the north by the
Red River, the Arkansas, and the Indian Territory, on
the north-west by New Mexico, and on the west by the
Rio Grande, also called Rio del Norte or Rio Bravo.
The inhabitants of this country increase so rapidly that
it is impossible to state their exact number. In
1848, the population was estimated at 400,000, inde-
pendently of Indians, who have never suffered the census
to be taken in their tribes. * I am inclined, however,
to think that this number is an exaggeration. The
Mexicans were then the most numerous, notwithstanding
all that compilers of statistics have stated to the con-
trary; next the Anglo-Americans, and then the Germans.

The number of black slaves who work in the planta-
tions is very considerable. Texas is divided into 117
counties, including the three counties of Bexar, the two
of Bosque, and the two of San Patricio, each of which has
a capital or chief town. The majority of their capitals
scarcely merit the name of village. The principal rivers
are : on the west, the Rio Grande, which is navigable for
more than 200 miles, the Nueces, the Rio Frio, and the
San Antonio ; in the centre of the country, the Colorado
and the Brazos ; on the east, the Trinity, the Meches,
and the Sabina ; and on the north the Red River. Most

10

TEXAS AND MEXTCO-

of these rivers are navigable only at their mouths.
They receive innumerable tributaries, which irrigate
and fertilise immense prairies. The bays of Galveston
and Matagorda abound with fish. In the bay of Mata-
gorda tortoises are found weighing more than 330 lbs.,
also sword fish measuring more than two yards in
length, and sharks in abundance. The entire coast
of Texas is formed of hills of fine white sand, of
slight elevation ; between it and the sea is a line of
long narrow islands and oyster banks, against which the
waves lash themselves into foam. These islands are
frequented by myriads of sea fowl, and especially by
pelicans, some of which attain an enormous size.

All the southern part of Texas extends to the sea in
sandy plains and swamps, which, as they ascend towards
the north, become more elevated, fertile, and undulating ;
and are clothed with a rich herbage which supports vast
herds of cattle, sheep, and horses. The mountains appear
only in the north-west, as the advance sentinels of the
Andes and the Rocky Mountains. The prairies are
divided by forests which extend along the rivers. The
most common trees are the cedar, the magnolia, the syca-
more, the ebony, the mesquita, the sugar maple, the fir
tree, the pacane, many varieties of the acacia, oaks, and
palm trees, and others indigenous to hot climates. The
cotton of Texas is superior to that of Louisiana. It is
principally cultivated on the banks of the Brazos. The
tobacco of Nacogdoches is said to be better than that
of the United States. Maize grows everywhere, and
the produce of the sugar-cane is more abundant than in
Louisiana. The flora, though not rich, is varied. The
nopal and all the many varieties of the cactus flourish
here in abundance. Few discoveries have been made in

FORMS OF WORSHIP.

11

mineralogy, and metallurgy is imperfectly understood.
Silver, iron, and antimony, however, have been found in
the country. The climate is very hot ; but it is tem-
pered by regular breezes which come from the Gulf of
Mexico, or down from the mountains.

The forms of religious worship in Texas are many.
The Mexicans and Indo-Mexicans are Catholics ; for
want of proper instruction, however, the religion of the
great majority is very superficial, the great truths
of the faith are overlooked, and the most essential
duties of a Christian neglected. They greatly need en-
lightened guides to direct their steps to the pure light
of true Christianity, and would be readily led by them ;
for, in all matters appertaining to religion they a.re
sincere, childlike in simplicity, and lend a docile ear
to the teachings of the priest. The Creoles, also, who
are not a numerous body in Texas, profess the Catholic
faith. Among the Anglo-Americans, methodism and
presbyterianism prevail. Episcopalians, baptists, qua-
kers, and anabaptists are not at all numerous ; and the
mormons have but one establishment in the north-east.
As to the Indians, the religion varies with the tribe ; and
it is not easy to furnish correct details, as the only infor-
mation we have respecting their religious worship comes
to us from prisoners who have escaped, and in them im-
plicit faith should not be placed. The Comanches wor-
ship the Sun and the Light, are very superstitious, and
their priests or prophets give them amulets which preserve
them, as they say, from every danger from man and beast.
Their priests are physicians, and employ the simplest and
most effectual means of becoming prophets. During
the night, wrapped in long white dresses, they run on
foot, or fly on horseback across the prairies, to recon-

12

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

noitre the moving caravans, with a view of ascertaining
the direction they take, and of counting the number of
travellers. In the day time, disguised in a thousand
different ways, they penetrate into towns and cities to
spy about, and take observations. On their return, they
deliver in the most solemn manner, as the revelations
of the Spirit, certain indications which experience sub-
sequently proves to be correct. The other Indians
supplicate the Great Spirit, whom they place in heaven,
whence he extends his protection to them. All they
ask is, that he would send them great success in the
chase, and rich booty in pillage.

The stationary tribes do not bury their dead, but
heap branches of trees and earth on the bodies to
protect them from wolves and other wild animals. The
bodies are heaped promiscuously one over the other, so
that, should the tribe remain for any considerable time
in the same place, the pile assumes the form of mounds
or hillocks of dead, which the whites call an Indian
Mount. The Lipans, on the contrary, and other wander-
ing tribes, bury their dead here and there in trenches,
generally in the depths of the woods and thickets.
They conceal the body under alternate layers of
earth and branches, then cover the grave with green-
sward, and over it interlace the boughs of trees in
the most graceful manner, thus forming a kind of
rustic vault, which serves to shelter and protect the
lonely tomb. Notwithstanding the minute historical
researches I have instituted, with a view of discovering
the origin of the first inhabitants of Texas, and the
first European establishments in these countries, I have
failed in collecting any exact information as to events
which occurred prior to the seventeenth century.

FORMS OF WORSHIP.

13

Historians are either entirely silent as to the points de de-
part, the degrees and the distance, or dismiss the subject
Avith a few vague and unsatisfactory indications. The
name of the country, as well as the name of its tribes
and rivers, has been changed. At the beginning of
the Christian era, a colony of Fultecs seems to have
settled on the banks of the Rio-Grande. Historians
have often made mention of this powerful tribe ; but
without any authority whatever, for it left no other
trace of its existence than a vague tradition. The
Toltecs, before their emigration into Mexico in the
seventeenth century, had inhabited the north-western
part of Texas, between the Rio-Grande, the Red River,
and the southern portion of New Mexico. This tribe,
the most ancient of all those of which we have any
knowledge, subjected Mexico to its laws, and had some
idea of the sciences and the useful arts. The spirit
of their laws was mild, their customs characterised
by benevolence, their religion an imperfect imita-
tion of Catholicism. They cultivated maize, and knew
the use of chocolate ; and cacao nuts served them as
money. There can be no doubt that that part of Texas
which is so much frequented at the present day by the
Comanches, and more particularly the banks of the
Colorado, was peopled by the Aztecs at the beginning
of the twelfth century, that is, before one of their
chiefs, called Huitziton, led them to the conquest of
Mexico. This was a work of no small labour, and
was not accomplished until towards the middle of the
thirteenth century. At that epoch the Aztecs completely
destroyed the work of the Toltecs, extended their empire,
and instituted the sacrificing of human victims, which
increased so fearfully during the sixteenth century.

14

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

This mighty empire fell, as all know, in 1521, with
Quauhtemozin, their last monarch. There is no re-
semblance whatever between the Aztecs, a brave,
spirited race of men, tall, well proportioned and vi-
gorous, and the two pretended Aztecs, who were
lately exhibited in Europe ; nor have they anything in
common with the brave adversaries of Fernando Cortes,
save the name, which has been given them without
any historic grounds. I am disposed to believe that
if the pure Aztec blood exists at the present day,
it runs in the veins of the Comanches. The Aztecs
were idolaters. They adored no living creature, as
some historians state: the objects of their worship were
various idols. The Otonites were a great and widely-
spread nation in the sixteenth century. They inhabited
a large territory, which stretches along the borders of
the Gulf of Mexico, and extends far inland from the
province of Panuco to Nueces. The Otonites were
idolaters, and rose frequently in arms against their
Mexican conquerors. There is a hiatus, both in history
and tradition, after the emigration of these great tribes,
whicn no research has been able to supply. The wan-
dering tribes gradually overspread these deserted re-
gions. Intestine broils, and the custom of massacring
prisoners, by degrees swept multitudes of these minor
nations from the face of the earth. Then came the
Spaniards, who, during the first years of their conquest,
destroyed many millions of Indians by fire and sword.
The most thickly-inhabited countries suffered most in
this thirst for carnage, which we should regard as fabu-
lous, had not its truth been guaranteed by the authority
of the most distinguished historian of the sixteenth
century. In the history of Las Casas, which was

HISTORY.

15

published, despite the command of Philip II., we read
that during the first twelve years of the invasion " the
Spaniards devastated by fire, sword, and lance, 450 leagues
of country, massacring men, women, and children."

Before the year 1525, Sebastian Cabot explored the
Texian coasts, but did not penetrate into the interior
of the country. The first of all the Spanish navigators
who made an incursion into Texas, is another and no
less celebrated adventurer, Stephen Gomez, who set
out from Florida at the commencement of the year
1524, and sailed along the coasts north of the Gulf of
Mexico, with a view to the discovery of a strait which
might afford him a passage to the Pacific. Disappointed
in his expectation, he landed on the San- Antonio side,
and carried on board his ship some Indians, whom he had
captured on these coasts. At a later period, in 1527,
the famous Pamfila de Narvaez being made adelantado, or
governor, landed at the mouth of the Las Palmas, in the
province of Panuco, near Tampico. He had with him
nine ships, six hundred Spaniards, one hundred horses,
and an abundant stock of provisions. He then shaped
his course towards Texas proper, with the intention
of conquering and peopling it. But this expedition
failed.

The Spaniards divided themselves into two parties,
one of which followed the sea-coast in their march
northward ; three hundred others explored the Costa-
Deserta, on the left bank of the Kio-Grande. The
latter suffered so much from sickness, and the severity
of the climate, that a few survivors, with great difficulty,
reached the ships again. " These," says the Chronicle,
u were scattered here and there, naked and famished
with hunger, for the space of nine years, wandering

16

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

through cities and plains, where they cured many
Indians of fever, and some too who were lame and
wounded." The historians of the sixteenth century relate
that, about this epoch (they fix no date), a certain
doctor, Gonzales Jimenes, crossed the Rio-Grande and
arrived at Santa Fe, where he received from the king
a present of some very large emeralds ; this induced
him to set out in search of mines of these precious stones.
He traversed an arid region covered with stones, and
inhabited by a miserable race called Pances. These
Pances, like the Carribees, poisoned their arrows with the
juice of an herb, and their wives followed them to battle,
carrying with them their little idols as protectors. It is
probable that the Rio-Grande of which mention is made
here, was not the Rio-Grande of Texas, and that this
Santa Fe was not the capital of New Mexico, for the
Spaniards had not as yet penetrated so far northward ;
nor is any mine of emeralds found in these countries.
Besides, this Doctor Jimenes had been the lieutenant
and friend of Don Pedro de Lugo, adelantado of New
Granada ; it must have been to Santa Fe de Bogota that
he repaired, in ascending the Oronoco, or rather the
Magdelena, which passes near Santa Fe.

So early as the sixteenth century a marked difference
was observed between the Indians of Texas and those of
the other parts of the West Indies, as regards manners
and customs. The tribes of Texas became more and
more nomad ; they built no towns as their ancestors did,
and worshipped the Sun, Moon, and Elements, rather
than idols. The Indians of Mexico, and of almost all the
West Indies, went naked, and rarely wore ornaments of
feathers or of tissue ; married women wore a girdle
of the bark of trees ingeniously wrought, while young

HISTORY AND CUSTOMS.

17

unmarried females wore cinctures of goat or deer skin.
In Texas, on the contrary, men and women were
clothed in painted and speckled kid-skins, so fine in
quality and so perfumed that the Spaniards were lost
in amazement at beholding them. The cloak was
wrought of the fibre of the agavo, and the hat was very
ample in its proportions ; but this latter article of dress
was not in general use. Marriage ceremonies in
Texas also differed widely from those of Mexico. In
Texas the bride was borne on the back of a woman
escorted by four matrons, before sunrise, to the thres-
hold of the bridegroom. Here the latter received her,
conducted her into his cabin, placed her on a mat
spread on the ground, and took his place opposite
her. The couple were then fastened together by the
skirts of their dresses, in the presence of two old men
and two matrons, who taking their seats at different
sides attended the ceremony as witnesses. Noma
Nopal wood was burned in honour of their divinities.
The bride and bridegroom then supped together,
and afterwards the guests. Supper over, their dresses
were untied, and the laws of marriage propounded to
them. In the provinces of Panuco and Acapulco these
ceremonies were accompanied, in accordance with extra-
vagant customs, with sacrifices to Tealloc, the god of
waters, and to Ometochtli, god of wine.

The Spaniards had no establishment in Texas until
the end of the seventeenth century ; but a Frenchman,
De la Sale, was the first to settle down there. This
intrepid navigator, who for the love of science and the
glory of his country twice crossed the North American
continent, undertook a third voyage with a view of
discovering the mouth of the Mississippi, then called

c

18

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

the Colbert. He sailed from La Rochelle on the 24th of
July, 1684, in a ship of war of forty guns, accompanied
by three other vessels, with two hundred and eighty
souls on board, including crews, soldiers, and workmen,
to form settlements. After encountering many hard-
ships in every shape, he arrived on the 10th of Ja-
nuary, 1685, at the mouth of the Mississippi, which,
however, he did not recognise. He then beat about until
March of the same year, and cast anchor in the Bay of
Matagora, to which he gave the name of St. Louis.
With trees, and the wreck of one of his vessels which
had grounded, he built a fort on the south of the County
of Calhoun, between the Bays of Matagora and Espiritu-
Santo. To this settlement he gave the same name as the
bay, in honour of Louis XI V., the then reigning mo-
narch. The following year, De la Sale made an in-
cursion into the interior of the country, and crossed the
Colorado. This river, which the Spaniards called Rio
de Oro, he named la Madeleine. From the circumstance
of his servant being carried off by a crocodile in crossing
the Guadalupe, a river also unknown to him, he called
it la Maline. He also passed over the San Antonio, to
which he gave the name la Sablonniere. During this
journey he fell in with many tribes of Indians, who
exercised towards him all the rights of hospitality, and
made exchanges of wares with him. The country ap-
pearing to him admirably adapted for the establishment
of an important settlement, he returned to Fort St.
Louis, and made a second excursion with his followers
at the commencement of the next year ; but by the
haughty bearing of their commander and the fatigues of
the journey, the dark passions of his people were excited
against him, and he perished by their hands on the 19th
of March, 1687.

HISTORY.

19

The Indians by this time had modified their manners,
customs, and usages, although these modifications could
not have been very considerable. Many tribes were
extinct, or had changed their names by incorporation
with other tribes : and at the present day there exists
no trace of the Nachitos, the Natsohos, the Cenis, the
Tecamenes, the Meghai, the Omeaosse, and many other
nations, save the funereal mounds where their bones
repose in the deep silence of oblivion.

In 1698, the garrison of San Antonio de Bexar was
founded, in all probability, by the adelantado of the
province of Monterey. Bahia, near Soliad, was esta-
blished in 1716. The settlement of Xacogdoches, on
the frontiers of Louisiana, does not date further back
than the year 1732. The precise period at which the
Spanish establishments or missions of San Jose, Con-
cepcion, San Saba, Victoria, and Refugio were founded,
is not well ascertained ; still I think the date is more
recent than those just mentioned. The missions may
have been originally Haciendas, or at least constructed
on their models. These haciendas, a species of fief or
fortified inclosed domain, within whose precincts there
was also a chapel or church, were founded by the
Spanish conquerors. The Indians, who by right of
conquest became vassals, had their huts outside the
haciendas, and built against the walls. At a later
period, when the missions contained prisoners of
war, with whose education the Spanish monks were
specially charged, the Indian habitations were brought
within the walls. After the death of the conquerors,
the greater part of the haciendas were abandoned, and
the labour of the Indians being emancipated by virtue
of new and protecting laws, these fiefs became the pro-

c 2

20

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

perty of the Crown of Spain and were ceded to the
Church. The modern history of Texas may be related
in a few lines. It was at Galveston that, in 1817,
General Lallemand purposed establishing the Champ
(TAsile. In 1820, the Spanish government accorded
great privileges to an American, named Moses Austin,
on condition that he should introduce emigrants into the
country and till the soil. Moses died before he was
able to fulfil his promise, but his son Stephen arrived
with the first body of emigrants in 1821. At this date
was promulgated the Plan de Ignala, which caused a
separation between the mother country and Mexico ; and
the crown was transferred to the brow of the Creole
general, Augustine Iturbide, who caused himself to be
proclaimed emperor. In 1824 the empire became a
republic ; new laws favoured the colonisation of Texas,
and this province was united to that of Cohahuila. But
the inhabitants of Cohahuila, jealous of the prosperity
and favour which the Texians enjoyed, allowed no op-
portunity to pass without involving them in quarrels
and disputes ; and in 1830 the American colonists, who
numbered 30,000, demanded a separation. The Mexican
government, on its side, had it in contemplation to fall
back on the protecting laws of 1824. In this emergency
Stephen Austin set out in 1833 for Mexico, to plead the
cause of his colony ; but having failed in his projects,
advised his friends to withdraw from Cohahuila. He
returned to Texas, but was arrested in February, 1834,
and thrown into prison for five months. This act
aroused the indignation of the Texians to such a degree
that they resolved on proclaiming not merely the sepa-
ration of Texas from Mexico, but the independence of the
former territory. The revolution, effected by Santa

HISTORF.

21

Anna in 1835, furnished them with a favourable oppor-
tunity, of which they were not slow to avail themselves.
On his appointment to the presidency, Santa Anna dis-
missed the federal authorities, abolished the indepen-
dence of the confederated states, and declared them pro-
vinces of the Central Mexican Republic. The legislators
of the different states were constrained to yield in pre-
sence of a greater force : Texas alone dared to offer
resistance. Santa Anna moved towards Texas to crush
the opposition ; the Texians replied to his menaces by
an appeal to arms, and hostilities commenced in Sep-
tember, 1835. On the 11th of December of the same
year was fought the battle which gave San Antonio de
Bexar to the Texians. In the month of February of the
following year, Santa Anna entered Texas at the head of
6000 or 8000 men, and after many successes, he was at
last completely defeated and made prisoner in a desperate
engagement, which was fought on the 21st of April,
182^, on the banks of the San Jacinto. The indepen-
dence of Texas was the result of this memorable battle ;
and Santa Anna was set at liberty. General Houston
was elected president of the new republic, which was as
yet too weak and too impoverished to maintain its inde-
pendence for any considerable time between two neigh-
bours so powerful and so jealous of each other. In
1845, Texas ceased to be independent, and became
incorporated with the United States. The following
year, Mexico and the United States quarrelled with
respect to the fixation of the Texian boundary. War
was declared, and commenced on the banks of the Rio-
Grande, but was brought to a close in" Mexico. Peace
was signed in 1848, and the frontiers fixed by the treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Since that time emigration from

c 3

22

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Europe and America to Texas has assumed vast pro-
portions. Important grants of land have been made to
the German colonists, to the soldiers who fought in both
wars, and to all those who had effected settlements in
the country before 1847. Prosperity increases every
day ; and the commercial intercourse between the United
States and Mexico constitutes a new source of wealth to
the latter country.

Galveston is built on the north of a long, narrow
sandy island, which bears its name. The whole country
round is covered with a fine white sand, in which you
sink up to the knees at every step. The earth, scorched
by the sun during the day, heats the air to an intense
degree, and renders a sojourn at Galveston insup-
portable. The musquitos are in such myriads, and
so troublesome, that it is difficult for a stranger to
live there in summer. The water is detestable ; and
the inhabitants are obliged to collect rain water in
tanks constructed either of wood or brick. Here the
water is kept seething, exposed to the sun's heat ;
and if you take into account that the cisterns are
not always of the cleanest, you may be able to form
some idea of its quality. They are obliged to bring
earth from the mainland to have a little vegetation ; but
this earth is so fertile, that mixed with sand it produces
good fruit and excellent vegetables. The houses in
general are constructed of wood, and surrounded by
small gardens. Along the streets, on each side, are
planted odoriferous trees, and rose laurels, perpetually
in bloom, and filling the air with their perfumes.
At Galveston, as in many other towns of the slave
states, I observed that masters give full liberty to their
negroes on Sunday. One day in seven is not much ;

GALVESTON.

23

still in a Southern State it is a great deal. On Sunday,
therefore, the poor negroes endeavour to compensate for
the six days of toil and servitude, and accordingly
indulge in their two favourite amusements of pro-
menading and dancing. Often, too, they yoke their
masters' horses to cars and tilburies, and gallop along
the beach, making the air resound with their songs
and shouts of revelry, not waiting until the decline
of the day has somewhat mitigated the heat of the
sun.

The episcopal residence is composed of three wretched
huts containing seven or eight small rooms surrounded
by galleries, shaded by fig trees, rose laurels, grenades,
and citrons. In the evening a few of his flock used to
visit the bishop, and grouped under a gallery ; we lis-
tened to the recital of his travels, labours, and to the
expressions of his hopes and fears for the future of the
mission and its wants. To us these were the most
agreeable hours of the day. When I first arrived at
Galveston, the beautiful cathedral was not quite finished,
and Divine worship was celebrated in a small wooden
chapel with scarcely room enough to contain the congre-
gation. The heat was insupportable, and on wet days
the rain came through the roof. One Sunday, during
Dr. Odin's sermon, the rain fell in torrents, and finding
its way through the chinks came down in drops on the
congregation, who were obliged to open their umbrellas
in the church ; as for myself, who had no contrivance of
the kind, I received for a good half-hour a shower-bath
of tepid water. Nevertheless wet days are full of
charm in this country, and one looks back to them with
regret when the fiery heats come on. The heat in-
creasing more and more in intensity, the good bishop,

c 4

24

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

apprehensive lest a residence at Galveston in summer
would be prejudicial to my health, advised me to go to
San Antonio de Bexar, in the interior of Texas. As
my greatest desire was to rejoin one of my countrymen,
the Abbe Dubuis, whose principal residence was at
Castroville, and as Castroville is only thirty miles or so
from San Antonio, I embraced with joy the bishop's
proposition. Accordingly I embarked on board a steam-
boat which was to bring me to Houston, whence I was
to proceed on foot to San Antonio.

During the 31st of July, 1848, the sky was a very
furnace of fire, and the bay sparkled like a polished
mirror. In the distance, a few bushes scattered on
islets displayed their grey outline on an horizon
raised to a white-heat temperature. Arrived at the ex-
tremity of the bay, we entered the little Buffalo river,
bordered with reeds and bulrushes, in the midst of
which herons, and cranes, and thousands of ducks were
disputing. By-and-by the banks increasing in height,
approached so near each other, and formed so many
narrow and tortuous windings, that at every instant the
boat was caught either by the bow or the stern. At
length the high lands appeared, covered with magnolias
with their large white flowers and delicious perfumes.
Grey and red squirrels leaped from branch to branch ;
while mocking-birds and cardinals imparted life and
language to these wonderful solitudes. "What mag-
nificent trees ! " cried I, in transport. " Yes," re-
plied one of my companions ; " Yes, they would make
fine wood for building purposes, I reckon." Indignant
at this prosaic reply, I turned round, " Monsieur is no
doubt an American ? " said I, interrogatively, to my
interlocutor. " Yes, sir, I am from Kentucky." The

HOUSTON. POSTING.

2j

priest at Houston, a young Frenchman, was one of my
travelling companions. We left Lyons together. I
proceeded at once to his house. We embraced like dear
friends who had not seen each other for an age. Houston
is a wretched little town composed of about twenty
shops, and a hundred huts, dispersed here and there,
among trunks of felled trees. It is infested with
methodists and ants. These ants crawl along the streets,
and through every room, in endless processions ; and the
ceiling, the walls, the floor are traversed in every di-
rection by the dark and ever-moving columns of their
battalions. The inhabitants, with a view of removing
something or other from their untiring search, place
small vessels filled with water under the bed-posts,
tables, and cupboards. At night I lay in a bed similarly
protected, in which, to employ an old French word,
I was insulated, and slept without molestation in
the midst of enemies. The next morning, however,
while dressing, I was seized with an itching all over
my body, being stung from head to foot. I lost no
time in flinging off my clothes. The fact is, I had for-
got to place them on my bed, or on a table, or on
some inaccessible piece of furniture, and they had been
overrun with ants. Having given them a vigorous
shake, and put them on again at the risk of bearing
away with me some of the hosts which had taken pos-
session of them, I made my escape from this ant-hill.
Two hours afterwards I again embraced my fellow
countryman, and started en poste for San Antonio.

The poste is a cart or species of waggon drawn by
four powerful horses. I was the only passenger. We
set off at a gallop. A bridge, six or seven feet in width,
and constructed of two planks and branches of trees

26

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

badly joined together, is thrown across bet wen the two
small hills which confine the channel of the Buffalo.
We crossed this bridge at full speed. I was filled with
alarm ; for the slightest accident would have pre-
cipitated us into the river. I had not, however, much
time for reflection ; for the jumping and jolting of the
waggon knocked me about so, and put me in such immi-
nent fear of a capsize, that I laid hold of the vehicle
with the desperation of a shipwrecked mariner clinging
to a rock despite the waves which dash about and buffet
him on all sides. In a short time, however, I relaxed
m}T grasp, bruised and exhausted, and abandoned my-
self an unresisting victim to the jolts and tossings of
the waggon.

The roads in Texas are almost all constructed with a
view to great economy, and in the most primitive manner.
In the woods, simple notches in the trees indicate the
route. If any tree should happen to be too much in
the way, they cut it down at about a foot from the
ground, with the intention, it would appear, of insuring
a jolt here and there. In the prairies and open
country there is no marked path; and every one
proceeds, according to his taste, along a flat, unbroken
surface. The poste goes at full speed through the
woods, passing over stumps, and striking against trees ;
in the prairies, on the contrary, where the sun broils
you without mercy, it proceeds at a walking pace. Is
this done with the view of getting up impressions for
the travellers, or with some other intent ? I know not.

After this desperate careering through the forest, we
entered on one of those immense prairies of which I
had heard so much. We could not have reached its op-
posite boundary though we had journeyed all clay. In

EPISODES IN THE EXCURSION.

27

about an hour we were lost in an ocean of dry, stunted
herbage, in which neither bush nor bramble obstructed
the view ; where there was nothing to mark either
beginning or end, and where all around was mute and
motionless. I looked in vain for beauty in this scenery ;
grand, it is true, but of the wild and melancholy
grandeur of the desert. My soul was filled with the
immensity of the picture, as on the ocean ; but the sea
has at least the wind and waves to give it life and ani-
mation ; whereas in these endless solitudes there reigns
a sullen silence, which fills the heart with a deep, dis-
tressing sense of loneliness. I felt quite uncomfortable
in this void, which resembled chaos.

In the evening I descried a little hill in the distance,
gilded by the last rays of the sun ; — it was the burying
place of an Indian tribe — a heap of forgotten graves,
bathed in a flood of light. Such was the only monu-
ment— the only trace of man's sojourn. Whilst thue
lost in the depths of my own reflections, and contemplat-
ing the setting sun, my postboy fell asleep, and the horses,
left to themselves, came upon a ravine, into which
our waggon was thrown as a matter of course, while the
charioteer and myself were flung on the opposite bank
by the shock.

"Are any of your bones smashed?" said my driver,
starting from his sleep.
" No," I replied.

" Good ! then there is no harm done."

" No harm done ! Why if this mode of travelling
continued for four or five days, it is impossible that I
should arrive at San Antonio with an unbroken bone in
my body."

The night, which in those countries is not preceded

28

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

by twilight, came upon us immediately afterwards. How-
ever, we had first arrived at a farm-house, where we
passed the night.

The crowing of the cock, the lowing of cattle, and
the bleating of sheep, cheered and delighted me. I felt
as though I had reached some friendly port after a long
and wearisome voyage, and was once again in a country
with which I was quite familiar. I fancied myself in a
French farm-house. After partaking of a good supper,
I was shown a bed, oblong in shape, and made of
the branches of trees. Over the branches, and by
way of substitute for a mattress, was laid a blanket.
Having placed my clothes over all, I lay down half-
dead with fatigue. Sleep, however, was out of the
question, for the sharp ends of the branches pricked my
sides ; and though I turned and turned again to find
some spot whereon to lie at ease, I found it not ; and
the day broke upon me while thus engaged. But rise I
must, for the stage before me was long and toilsome,
and beset with danger, as our route lay through the
heart of the forest, and bristled with stumps of trees.
In addition to this, it conducted us through a low
swampy region, infested with wild beasts, and serpents
of the larger species. As a matter of precaution, my
charioteer provided himself with a hatchet, ropes, a six-
barrelled revolver, and a carabine ; but as I was entirely
without arms myself, I took my seat near the driver, to
have a ready protector in case of danger.

Notwithstanding my fears, the pleasure of finding
myself once more in forest land and among the trees
made me forget all danger ; and rarely have I felt happier
in my life. Nature seemed to exhaust her store of va-
riety to make some atonement for the distressing mo-

THE PRAIRIE. THE PANTHER. 29

notony of yesterday. First we passed through prairies
— which were happily of limited extent. Eivulets
murmured on all sides, and our way was bordered
with flowers in such profusion, and so thickly matted
that scarcely was a stem or leaf discernible in this
melange of brilliant colours. A light breeze played
through the old oaks which were scattered here and
there in this delightful garden of nature's own arrange-
ment. It was in very deed a lovely Eden. At one view
the oaks are grouped in clumps, then whole forests
of them meet the eye. At length they are inter-
spersed with countless sycamores and plane trees. In
a word, we were in a virgin forest — in the America
of the poets. Delighted to find myself amid vege-
tation so luxuriant, all my previous apprehensions were
lulled to rest. I was, to say the truth, lost in admiration.
But the enchantment was short-lived ; for I was soon
aroused from it by observing the driver suddenly grasp
his carabine, cock it, examine the priming, and then
leisurely replace it between his feet. Danger is at hand,
it would seem. Still the driver continues to hum his
tune, and only breaks oiF to point out to me the honey-
tree and those plants which have the property of curing
serpent bites — an infallible remedy ! Suddenly the
horses stop short, snort wildly, tremble all over, and
plunge backwards. In their paroxysm they dash the
waggon with violence against the trunk of a tree, and
the pole is smashed. My companion alights with his
carabine. At the same instant a panther of huge size
crouches and springs on the foremost horse. Then a
shot is fired, and this formidable denizen of the forest
falls to the ground lifeless. As for myself, the shock
sent me head over heels to the bottom of the waggon,

30

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

whence I witnessed the scene from quite an extraor-
dinary point of view (a Venvers). The horse happily re-
ceived but a few slight scratches, and the pole was soon
put to rights by means of ropes. The panther was
hoisted into the waggon alongside of me ; and after half
an hour's delay we were on our way again as though
nothing had happened.

In a short time we reached the Brazos, a narrow,
shallow river. Its waters are limpid, and trees of pro-
digious height take root in its bed, stretching out
their lordly branches, bower-like, over the current. We
crossed the river on a kind of raft, and very soon found
ourselves in one of those rich cotton plantations which
are so numerous on the banks of the Brazos.

The cotton-trees are covered with white or red
flowers, which rise and fall with the undulations of the
land. We arrived late in the evening at the farm-house
where we were to pass the night. This house, and its
dependencies, overhung by oaks, acacias, and maples,
are extensive, and bespeak comfort. I slept pretty
well during the night, but on the following morning
I perceived that the money which I brought with
me from Galveston had so diminished that I had not
wherewith to meet the expenses of the road to San
Antonio. From motives of economy, therefore, I dis-
pensed with breakfast. At this stage a young widow
of seventeen entered the waggon with us ; but to me her
presence brought ill-luck. The morning had hardly
dawned, when the air became heavy and smelt of
sulphur and charcoal. Suddenly the heavens were
overcast, and flashes of lightning succeeded each
other so rapidly that the sky seemed wrapt in one vast
conflagration. Large lukewarm drops now began to

THUNDER-STORM.

31

fall, and presently came down a very deluge which soon
penetrated my thin cotton garments and drenched me to
the skin. Swollen torrents improvised by the tempest
rushed down upon us from all sides. Our vehicle, in a
short time, floated, or rather floundered, with difficulty
through a lake of liquid mud, while peals of thunder
became incessant and terrific, and a few paces from us
the earth was riven by the lightning. My companion
was dreadfully alarmed ; but fear was the only misery
she had to endure, as she was enveloped in thick cover-
ing, and provided with an umbrella which, like a shower-
bath, sent down upon my neck and knees two torrents
of ice-cold water. I was half drowned by it. My
hands became shrivelled, and of a death-like whiteness,
while my teeth chattered, and I shivered from head to
foot. Towards one o'clock in the afternoon the storm
subsided, and an hour afterwards we arrived at a small
town called Independencia. To spare expense I had but
a poor dinner, paid exorbitantly for it, and had no
time to dry my wet clothes ; and the water which was
pumping in my shoes once removed, I was obliged to
resume my journey. It blew, however, from the north,
and I was soon dry again. Our route lay between an
oak forest and a prairie enamelled with flowers, now
bent and broken by the storm ; but it was so cut
up by the rains, that it was late at night when we
arrived at the inn. Next morning's breakfast cost
my last farthing ; and as there was still a journey of
three days before we should reach San Antonio, the
long fast in prospective had no cheering effect on my
mind ; hence I had little disposition to admire the
beauties of the scenery around me, though it was beauti-
ful. Giant trees were encircled by giant vines ; one of

32

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

the latter being at least fifteen inches in circumference,
and in height thirty or forty feet, while it wrapped
its stalwart boughs around the summits of the largest
sycamores, and stretched them out to a distance of a
hundred yards or more.

At noon, as we approached the house where we were
to dine, a party of both sexes, in full dress, made their
appearance on horseback from all parts of the wood.
They were presbyterians on their way to hear a sermon
from one of their ministers, whose house was at once a
conventicle and an hostelrie. Not having a farthing
to pay for dinner, I was strolling about in the worst
humour imaginable, when a vehicle, very like our own,
containing two persons in black, appeared on the way
by which we were about to continue our journey.
What was my joy on recognising the Abbe Dubuis, and
another fellow countryman from Lyons who had not as
yet become a missionary! We threw ourselves into
each other's arms, and in turn recounted all our ad-
ventures. The Abbe Dubuis expressed his deep regret
at the step I had taken ; for whilst I was on my way to
join him, he had left Castroville, disheartened by the
wickedness of the people, who, not satisfied with allow-
ing him to starve, used every effort to destroy his
reputation. His fellow labourer in the mission had
died at the end of three months of misery, weariness,
and pain. I knew not well what to do on hearing this,
the more so, as I had not a farthing, and the Abbe had not
so much money as would enable me to retrace my steps.
Still, although very straitened in means himself, he
could give me as much as would support me until I
reached San Antonio. I had therefore no alternative: but
perplexed and broken-hearted, I was forced to continue

THE FIDDLER. SAN MARCOS.

33

my journey. Before arriving at San Antonio I had to
pass through Austin, San Marcos, and Braunfels. The
Abbe Dubuis roused my spirits a little by promising
me that he would return to his mission if the bishop
authorised me to share in its labours.

Austin, the seat of the Texian Legislature, is a
small dirty town, and contained only one wretched
hotel. Crossing the Colorado in a boat, we wit-
nessed a novel ceremony — the baptism of two old Pro-
testant women. The minister, standing on a plank
between two boats, seized the neophytes one after the
other, plunged them to their necks in the water, and
held them there until he had pronounced the sacra-
mental words. The entire population of Austin was
present, and appeared highly amused with this exhibi-
tion of a religious bath ; but as for the two old women,
they appeared in nowise concerned at the presence of
such immense crowds of spectators.

At every instant as we went along, the driver pointed
out to us the spots where sanguinary conflicts had taken
place, either between white men and Indians, or between
the Mexicans and the people of Texas. His tales would
have filled me with alarm in this wild and desert
region, had not a fellow-traveller — a half-tipsy fiddler — -
diverted my thoughts from the deeds of blood by the
jarring sounds of his violin.

The country, as you approach San Marcos, becomes
more interesting ; the hills, though inconsiderable as
yet, are numerous ; and some are bare and arid, whilst
others are covered with oaks ; but as you advance
towards the north and north-west, they increase in
height and frequency, forming, as it were, the advanced
guard of a chain of mountains which you descry in the

D

34

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

distance, and which, in all probability, have never been
trodden by human feet, save those of the Indians.
The inn of the small village of San Marcos is composed
of two huts, constructed of pine wood and straw.
What struck me as peculiarly odd, was the fact of there
being but two beds in the whole concern — to be sure
each was of enormous size. I was informed that one of
them was set apart for men, the other for women.
Bears are very numerous in this lonely spot ; and here,
for the first time in my life, I tasted of their flesh,
and found it excellent. We met at the inn another
passenger for San Antonio. He was a Frenchman, who
had come to San Marcos to hunt bears, and was taking
back with him t wo of those animals. Whilst at dinner,
we were startled by a deep growling near us. At once
the Frenchman seized his double-barrel gun, and left
the room without a word. I asked our host what was
the matter. " Only a bear," he replied, with the
greatest possible composure ; but seeing my astonish-
ment, he added : "Oh! no doubt, these animals some-
times commit depredations, but they rarely attack us.
As soon as they catch a glimpse of us, they scamper off.
It is even said that the farm of a Mr. Mosenbach, on
the road as you go to Fredericksburg, is not guarded
by dogs, but by tame bears. When one arrives there

after sunset " The double report of a gun

cut short the conversation ; and a minute or two after-
wards the Frenchman reappeared, and took his place
at the table, assuring me that he had certainly wounded
the bear, but fearing lest he should lose his place in
the waggon, he had refrained from pursuing the animal
into the forest. May we not presume that this French-
man was a Gascon ?

THE ELECTORS AND THE FIDDLER.

35

Braunfels is an important German colony. We
arrived there in the evening. Groups of drunken
fellows, shouting and disputing under the double ex-
citement of wine and loud talk, met us at every step.
1 could not think of spending the night in such com-
pany, until some one said to me, u Oh don't mind it — -
it is an election day ; depend upon it there will be more
noise than danger." In the room where I was to spend
the night were two beds; it was, moreover, full of
drunken fellows, smoking, drinking, and discussing
politics. The appearance of our friend the musician
was greeted with a general hurrah, and the whole party
stood up and swore they would have a dance. I pro-
fited by the movement to seize on one of the beds;
anticipating, however, scenes the duration or result of
which it was impossible to divine, I durst not undress ;
so I awaited the issue, heartily disgusted with politics,
fiddle, and wine.

The musician proclaimed aloud that so long as his
throat was dry, the instrument would not work, but
keep it moistened with something to drink, and the fiddle
will go on as long as you please. A new salvo of hurrahs
followed this announcement, and the tables were covered
in an instant with bottles of wine and brandy. Then
came forth from the fiddle, waltzes, and American tunes
in screeching notes of merciless discord. The electors
jump, and twirl about, and fling themselves into a
thousand contortions, shouting the while in a way to
smash the tympanum of a deaf man's ear. As luck
would have it, a string of the fiddle broke after three
hours' uproar. This put an end to music and dancing
for the night; and my friends staggered out of the
room. In an instant I was undressed, the candle

36

TEXAS AND MEXICO,

extinguished, and I was just falling into a sound sleep
when something fell heavily upon me. Startled, and
half crushed to death, I groped about me, when lo ! I
laid hold of a coat, some hair, a nose, and a fiddle. It
was the musician, who had tumbled into my bed as
drunk as an elector. I extricated myself from this
avalanche the best way I could, and took refuge in the
vacant bed.

San Antonio, the end of our journey, was only
thirty miles off. The route lay through a charming
country — picturesque and beautifully diversified. Nu-
merous waggons drawn by oxen were taking mer-
chandise to Braunfels, or maize to San Antonio. Every
thing bespoke the vicinity of a large town. We arrived
at half-past three o'clock, — it was high time, for I was
bruised, broken, and thoroughly knocked up by the
journey.

37

CHAR II.

SAN ANTONIO. — FURNISHED LODGINGS. — MY ORDINATION. —CASTRO-

VILLE. DOMESTIC SCENES. RATTLESNAKES. A CROCODILE HUNT.

— THE CHURCH. THE MISSIONARY. — THE MISSIONS. FIRST EX-
CURSION. A QUIPROQUO.

San Antonio, like the majority of Mexican towns, is
remarkable for a large square which occupies its centre.
In the middle of this square stands the church with its
thick walls, its massive quadrangular steeple, and in-
significant cupola raised over the choir. Surrounding
the square on all sides are rows of large houses built
of stone, whitewashed, with flat roofs and terraces,
and windows few in number and very small. Here
and there clumps of Chinese lilacs. The streets are
straight, but filthy, and encumbered with oxen and
waggons, either quite disabled or covered all over with
mud. Courtyards or kitchen gardens, where grow,
without culture or without the exhibition of any taste
as to the planting, lilacs, fig-trees, pomegranates, and
peach-trees. At present, in the construction of build-
ings, stone is beginning to replace bamboos, adaubes,
or bricks burned in the sun, and cabins built with the
branches of trees. At that time the population, which for
the most part was Mexican, did not exceed three or four
thousand. The dress of the men is picturesque and
graceful, although not so rich as in the interior of
Mexico. The broad-leafed hat is decorated with silver
ornaments ; the vest is short, and, when it is of buck-
skin, the sleeves are open to the elbow, and ornamented

D 3

88

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

with silver buttons. The pantaloons, too, are garnished
with buttons, and open to the hips, but buttoned from
the knee upwards. They are of skin, cloth, or blue
velvet, bordered with large bands of black velvet. A
cincture of blue or red silk, with fringe, completes the
costume. The Mexican women are scantily clad, wearing
only a chemise with very low front, and a petticoat.
When they leave the house, they wear a gown of thin
silk, and cover the entire person with a scarf, which
hangs about them in the most graceful folds.

San Antonio is situated between the 29th and 30th
degree of north latitude, and in the 100th degree of
west longitude. Its position, near the north-eastern
frontier of Mexico, makes it a place of great impor-
tance. It is the principal depot for the merchandise
of the United States, which is conveyed hence to Mon-
clova, Monterey, Saltillo, Paso del Norte, and even
to San Luis de Potosi in the interior of Mexico. Every
week arrive, from different localities, long caravans of
ponderous waggons with massive wheels, drawn by
oxen, and superintended by rich Mexican traders, who
come here to lay in a stock of muslins, cottons of all
kinds, soap, sugar, flour, and coffee.

The priests who served the mission of San Antonio
were Spaniards, and inhabited a large dreary stone house
at the western extremity of the square. There being
no room for me, I was lodged in the garret, which was
divided into two compartments, of which one contained
provisions for culinary purposes, onions, garlic, pi-
mento, and vegetables, which were put there to dry.
This part, which was very large, served me as a pro-
menade for two months. Here I passed long hours
musing a great deal, pacing the length and breadth of

FURNISHED LODGINGS.

39

the planks, picking my steps lest I should crush the
vegetables, and all the while meditating profoundly on
a great variety of subjects.

The other part, which served me as a bed-room, was
very small. The furniture consisted of a miserable kind
of camp-bed, without either mattress or palliasse, a crazy
table, and two chairs, one of which was without a bottom,
the other wanted a leg. My sofa was a public coffin, in
which the mortal remains of the poor were conveyed to
the cemetery ; after consigning them to the grave, the
coffin returned once more to the garret, ready to per-
form the same duty again, as often as its services were
required. One small window looked out on the road to
Mexico, while a dormer skylight window commanded at
once a view of the priest's poultry yard and the burial
ground. The roof gave free admission to the rain, as
also, and, in a very special manner, to the sun's burning
rays. Denizens, at all events, were not wanting in my
retreat — for dormice, rats, spiders, musquitos, and in-
sects of every denomination, in myriads, lived and
broiled there in my society. Close to the house was a
stream of clear water, where the washing business of
the town was done, and in which the women bathed
publicly. My window was in view of all their gam-
bolings ; I was, therefore, obliged to keep it closed
during the day. I could not take a walk through the
town in the day time on account of the heat, nor outside
its precincts, for fear of the Indians. The parish priest
informed me that for a long time he could not accom-
pany a corpse to the cemetery, which was not more than
a pistol shot from his house, without being protected by
armed men. Thus I was kept a close prisoner in my
garret, hardly able to breathe, unable to study, and dying

D 4

40

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

of ennui. This want of air, exercise, and mental occu-
pation brought on a very singular malady. Fainting
fits, which on each occasion lasted for a considerable
time, and which came on so suddenly that it was never
in my power to call for assistance, seized me once or
twice every day. One evening, more than usually
oppressed by a host of gloomy thoughts, I sat contem-
plating from my narrow skylight the graves beneath
me, with their rustic crosses and white head-stones
scorched in the sun ; my ill-defined desires and aspira-
tions were ascending to the throne of the God of all
consolation. I dared not complain somehow, and yet I
suffered intensely — all at once I heard a coarse voice
chant forth in French the following words : —

" Oh ! surtout cache-lui
D'ou vient mon ennui . . ."

At a bound I was on my legs, at the aperture of my
pigeon-box, to find out who it was that sung thus. I
discovered that it was a mason who worked at a neigh-
bouring wall.

" You are a Frenchman?" cried I, deeply affected by
the meeting.

" A Frenchman, without a doubt, and a Comtois too,
at your service. But who are you, and what in Heaven's
name are you doing at that skylight ? "

"I, too, am a Frenchman. I am preparing for the
mission of Texas. The bishop has sent me here that I
might escape the fevers of Galveston ; but I have no
acquaintance ; and I never leave my garret except to
go to church ; hence the voice of a countryman made
me leap for joy."

" At that rate, with no one to speak to, your time
must hang heavily enough upon you. If you think well

MY ORDINATION.

41

of it, I'll come and see you after my work, and we'll
have a little chat together."

I received the offer with joy. Nevertheless two
months after my arrival at San Antonio my strength,
both of body and mind, was quite exhausted. My state
of mind was such- that I conceived the silly project of
returning on foot, and without money, to Galveston.
At this juncture the bishop arrived, and I received his
orders to prepare for my examination previous to my
ordination. At first I hesitated. I durst not as yet
bind myself by an irrevocable vow to the work of the
ministry among a vicious people, with whose language
and manners I was totally unacquainted, under a burning
sky, amid perils and dangers of all sorts — and that, too,
when I had not as yet attained my twenty-third year —
that is, at an age when the passions are strongest.

The solemn engagements I wTas about to contract
filled me with terror ; and distrusting entirely in my
own resolves, I besought Almighty God to vouchsafe
me His holy inspirations. At this moment the Abbe
Dubuis arrived in San Antonio. The good priest
aroused and encouraged me, pointed out to me those
multitudes around us who stood in such extreme need
of a priest's ministry, and promised to receive me into
a participation of all his labours and sacrifices. " In
the missions we are obliged to endure all the crosses of
life," he was wont to say to me, " the ingratitude of
some, the indifference of others; and still the missionary
feels himself recompensed a hundred fold when he is
able to impart some consolation to these poor people
here on earth, and when by his ministry he insures to
them a crown hereafter in heaven. Indeed, they more
than repay us for all our toils and sacrifices by the hap-

42

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

piness we experience in ministering to their wants and
necessities." I could resist no longer : and eight days
afterwards I was ordained priest. I bethought me, not
without deep emotion, of the young clerics in the old
country, who, on the occasion of their ordination, are
surrounded by relatives and friends, from whom they
receive counsel and encouragement. As for myself, I
was separated from all I held dear in this world ; I was
alone, and opening before me was a life of solitude and
hardships without end. To me the chalice was a bitter
one ; but, aided by God's grace, I felt no inward regret.
And yet it was one of those days in my existence in
which religion should have shed her most benign influ-
ence, and imparted to me all her saving counsels ; for on
that clay I offered the sacrifice of my life and of my
whole being.

The mission, whose labours I shared with the Abbe
Dubuis, comprised the German Catholics, who were dis-
persed through the towns, settlements, and villages on
the north-western boundary of Texas, as also the Irish
soldiers who were employed in the American service to
repress the incursions of the Indian tribes. The prin-
cipal points were : Castroville, thirty miles west of San
Antonio, and the residence of the Abbe Dubuis, where I
subsequently resided ; twelve miles farther on, Quihi ;
then Vandenberg ; the colony and camp of Dhanis ; and
more remote still, another American camp, situate on the
river Leona ; one hundred miles north of San Antonio,
Fredericksburg and the Llano; and to the east, Braunfels,
through which I had passed on my way to San Antonio.
I had nothing to do with the Mexicans ; the only foreign
language which I spoke, the Italian, was therefore use-
less to me. I knew only a word or two of English ;

CASTRO VILLE .

43

and of German, which was indispensable to me, I was
utterly ignorant.

Two days after my ordination I set out for Castro-
ville, accompanied by an Alsacian. Owing to his being
detained by business at Braunfels, the Abbe Dubuis
was unable to preside at my installation. It was a
lovely summer's evening. My travelling companion
drove a waggon, laden with merchandise and drawn by
oxen. The slow pace at which he proceeded gave me
leisure to examine this route, which at a future time I
should be obliged to travel so frequently by day and
night. Leaving San Antonio behind us, we entered a
chaparal, or coppice-wood, of two miles in length. The
mesquite, the acacia, and the cactus constitute almost
the entire vegetation of this ill-famed spot, in which
murders were frequent. Beyond this stretches out a
vast plain called the Leona, covered with flocks and herds,
and inhabited by deer. Then the landscape becomes sud-
denly much diversified ; hills succeed hills, approach each
other, and then retire, leaving in the intermediate space
small prairies covered with flowers, cut up by broad but
shallow rivulets, which wind along beneath the shade of
the walnut-tree, disappear in a tiny valley, and finally
lose themselves in the distance. The greater number of
these hills are covered with matted grass, from eighteen
inches to two feet in length, which is a favourite food
with both tame and wild animals. Here and there, at
intervals, are clumps of trees, on which blue birds,
cardinals, and golden-necked starlings chirp and flutter
in thousands.

I arrived at Castroville at one o'clock in the morning,
and directed my steps to the house of the good mis-
sionary, to take up my quarters there. Fancy my

44

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

astonishment at finding it already tenanted. A family-
had taken possession of it, and were living there
quite at ease. What more natural than to occupy an
empty house ? Still the reception I met with bore little
resemblance to that of the Hound in "La Fontaine."
It is but fair to state that the conduct of this family
towards me was very gracious. They prepared a bed
for me, and did all the honours of the house which they
had usurped. I slept so soundly under the same roof
with my new friends, that I rose next morning much
later than the sun. I dressed in all haste, and pro-
ceeded to a wretched cabin, which they call the church,
to celebrate the Divine mysteries. There was no one
present. My arrival had not been as yet announced
to the people. After mass, I made an inspection of
the parsonage. It had been built by the Abbe Dubuis,
aided by his colleague, the Abbe Chazelle, who had since
then died, after an illness of three months. It was
constructed of wood, stone, and brick. Here and there,
in the angles of the walls, were large fissures, which
opened much frequented passages for lizards and ser-
pents, as also for rats, ants, scorpions, and tarantulas.
This building consisted of two rooms separated by a
corridor ; of a barn, in front of which was a garden for
vegetables, and flanked by a yard and two cabins,
one of which served by turns for stable, granary, and
henhouse, and sometimes for all three together ; whilst
the other, which was constructed with branches and
covered with thatch, was at once the kitchen and school-
room. In the garden, near my room, was the grave of
the Abbe Chazelle, covered over and perfumed with
mignonette.

Both of the fellow-labourers had been struck down at

DOMESTIC SCENES.

45

the same time by dangerous maladies. While one lay on
a buffalo hide on the ground, the other pined away on a
table which served him as a bed. No physician was at
hand to assist them in their sickness, and their only medi-
cine was a little cold water. One day when they could
with difficulty hold themselves erect, they crawled out-
side the house to mark the spot where the survivor should
inter the other. Although at that time Abbe Chazelle
was in a less dangerous state than his companion, still
he died a few days afterwards of languor, nostalgia, and
want. The Abbe Dubuis tottered to the side of his
poor brother, gave him the last consolations of religion,
in a voice almost deprived of utterance ; and then, by a
last effort, conveyed his remains to the spot which he
had chosen as his sepulchre. Affecting spectacle ! The
dying burying the dead. The sight of this green grave
brought tears to my eyes ; and kneeling on the bed of
repose where lay my predecessor, I offered up a fervent
prayer to God for that soul which had endured so
much, and whose experience of the Missions was only
associated with suffering and misery.

I pursued my domiciliary inspection, and with a view
of establishing myself in my new habitation, made choice
of a room on the right hand as being the less com-
modious of the two. The floor was the bare earth,
overgrown with small plants, bearing tiny white flowers.
As it had been taken military possession of by three
formidable republics of ants, I proceeded forthwith to
dislodge them. Yain effort ! It was an heroic un-
dertaking, but, alas ! my strength was unequal to its
accomplishment; two years of incessant labour were
devoted to it in vain. The bed was so rickety, and so
badly held together, that I abandoned it altogether, and

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

instead prepared for myself a hammock, which I sus-
pended under the gallery in the garden. The wretched
fare, to which my poverty subjected me, added consi-
derably to my discomforts. I had discovered a small
quantity of pork and bacon in the granary, as also some
pieces of dried venison, which I mistook for sponges.
To me these viands were most unpalatable ; and to
remove their flavour I used them with a mixture of
pepper, pimento, and vinegar, which scorched and
excoriated my mouth. In revenge, I made terrible
onslaughts on a kind of wild salad, which I gathered in
the mountains at the risk of being bitten by rattle-
snakes, or scalped by the Indians. In these countries
oil is very dear, I was therefore obliged to use milk for
seasoning purposes.

Castroville is a collection of huts, of every shape and
size. The streets run at right angles to each other. It
is bounded on the west by the small river Medina,
and on the east by hills more or less wooded. The
situation is low ; weeds spring up everywhere, cover
the streets with a thick carpet, and afford shelter to
multitudes of ants, reptiles, and insects, as also to a very
small species of rabbit. The people appeared to have
blamed themselves and repented somewhat during the
absence of the Abbe Dubuis. They seemed to have disco-
vered that their conduct towards the good priest had been
very faulty. The school which my fellow-labourer had
founded, and in which from sixty to eighty children of
both sexes received gratuitous instruction, had been
closed at his departure. I reopened it, and taught the
children their catechism, French, and even a little English
and German, which I learned myself whilst instructing
them. Still I made but poor progress ; and my igno-

MISSIONARY REMUNERATION.

47

ranee of their language prevented me from entering into
any social intercourse with the people. Thus con-
demned to silence and to a state of complete isolation, I
fell into mortal ennui before the end of a fortnight.

A few days after my arrival in Castroville I baptized
an infant. The ceremony over, the father inquired
how much he was in my debt. As soon as I understood
him, I informed him, in the best way I could, that we
had nothing fixed in these matters, and that I should
receive with gratitude whatever he might offer. Upon
which he made me a very polite bow. The idea of this
highly lucrative debut threw me into fits of laughter ; still
the reflection would force itself upon me, that should I
continue to proceed at this rate much longer, starvation
and death were inevitable. Another day an old woman
handed me a sixpence, saying, " Here, your Reverence,
take this, and say as many masses as you can for it."
"Keep your money," replied I, smiling, "and I'll offer
up the Holy Sacrifice to-morrow on your behalf." She
went her way, radiant with joy, but carrying off her
sixpence. In this way I might have contributed, from
time to time, to the happiness of my parishioners ; but
I had no idea whatever of inducing them to believe that
priests possessed the happy knack of living without
food ; and I resolved therefore, and in order to secure
the solid establishment of the Mission, to exercise gene-
rosity only in such cases of charity as rendered its
exercise a duty. And after all, I had no great reason
to complain of the people. They appeared to take my
youth into consideration, and to accord me their sympa-
thies. From time to time, too, they made me small offer-
ings of vegetables and fresh meat. These were a great
treat. Indeed, compared with the venison — nay, even

48

TEXAS AXD MEXICO.

with my wild salad — tliey were quite matters of luxury
and high living.

The Abbe Dubuis arrived at last. He remained a few
months, and reserved to himself all the drudgery of the
Mission. The people improved. I made progress in
German. Presents were not so scarce as of old ; the
food more tolerable ; indeed, it even sometimes happened
that our wants were all but supplied. A collection of
minerals and curious animals constituted my principal
riches. In my repertory might be seen a centipede
eleven inches long, and a caterpillar thirteen inches in
length and two in circumference. As for serpents, I
had them of all sizes and of every variety. Selection
was easy ; they were everywhere under our feet ; Ave
walked on them, and crushed them unconsciously, with-
out paying any attention to the fact. The business of
destroying them was left to the pigs, the cats, and even
the fowls. These fell resolutely on the serpent's head,
and devoured it, without subsequently experiencing
any bodily inconvenience, an example which was not
lost on us. At Quihi, a tiger hunter killed a rattle-
snake which he had mistaken for a dead tree ; the rep-
tile measured seventeen feet in length, eighteen inches
in circumference, and was furnished with twenty-five
rings or rattles. One day the Abbe Dubuis went to
our little barn for some maize, and took up a serpent
in his hand, mistaking it for a blade of corn ; another
day a cobra de capello glided into our school-room, and
was on the point of biting one of the children, when
M. Dubuis killed it with a blow of a stick in the most
business-like manner imaginable. We had a horse,
which we allowed to roam at large through the prairie.
One evening we missed the beast, and the Abbe and I

RATTLESNAKES.

49

set out to look for him. Lest we should lose each other,
I remained stationary on an open spot whence the
town could be seen, while the Abbe Dubuis searched
about to the right and to the left for the horse, taking
care, at the same time, to be always within hail. The
night was coming on apace, but no horse. All at once
I perceived at my feet, and gliding from under the
grass, where he had lain concealed for a long time, a
rattlesnake of about two yards in length. I was
about to take to my heels, when I bethought me that
this serpent captured alive would be a great acquisition
to my collection of reptiles, or at all events his skin
would make a grand pair of slippers for my mother.
Quick as thought I rushed upon him, and knocked him
senseless with a large clod of earth ; I then tied a cord
tightly round his neck. In the meantime the horse
was found, and we retraced our steps to the town, one
with the horse, the other with the rattlesnake, which
commenced by degrees to recover his strength in a
most alarming manner, making the air resound with the
noise of his rattles, and dragging my arms about by his
strong and rapid writhings. I durst not let go my hold
for fear of being bitten. The efforts therefore which I
made to hold him, and the fear of being bitten, threw me
into a state of profuse perspiration ; however, I arrived
at last, and tied the serpent to a bench, keeping down
his head with my foot during the operation. Next
day we were three at dinner : our bill of fare, however,
included but three eggs. But what was to be done ?
I proposed that we should eat the serpent ; M. Dubuis
approved of the idea, remarking : " If the flesh be good,
we shall have in future wherewith to satisfy our appetite,
nay, even to exceed the bounds of moderation, should we

50

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

be so inclined." Accordingly, I summoned to my aid
all my culinary skill to dress the serpent, and in a very
short time it appeared on the table, stripped of its skin,
deprived of head and tail, cut into small pieces, gritted,
and well spiced with cayenne pepper ; the new dish
seemed palatable enough, it tasted somewhat of frogs
and tortoise, but our natural repugnance to it was in-
surmountable,— the idea of eating a serpent shocked our
stomachs, otherwise we might have bid defiance to hunger.
The bite of the rattlesnake is not always mortal ; one
day a rattlesnake sprung upon a colonist, and bit him
in the leg. The unfortunate fellow, tortured as he was
by the excruciating pain of the wound, fancied he was
dying. I was called to administer the last sacrament.
Now, I never left the house without a small phial of
liquid ammoniac and a bistoury. Having reached the
sick man's bed, I enlarged the wound with my bistoury,
and then cauterised it well with the ammoniac : eight
days afterwards the patient was completely cured.
Another time I was saying mass, and our sacristan, who
had been a schoolmaster in his time, was clerk on the
occasion. He was an old little man with enormous
spectacles, which prevented him from seeing. As he was
removing the book from one side of the altar to the
other, he felt something creep up between his legs ; it
was a royal serpent, a harmless reptile of great beauty,
which had its nest under the altar. As soon as the
sacristan saw it, he commenced screaming at the top of
his voice and dancing about from side to side, all the
while pommelling the poor serpent with the missal ; at
last it relaxed its hold and darted into its nest under
the altar.

To enjoy the luxury of a little fresh meat from time

CROCODILE HUNT.

51

to time, we fattened cats, which I subsequently meta-
morphosed into most delicious fricassees. The chase
too, one way or other, contributed to the maintenance
of our table. Whenever there were any pieces of small
money in our round snuiF-box, which was our iron- safe,
and which in that capacity received all presents of our
parishioners, — on the occasion of baptisms, which were
rare, and of marriages, which were rarer still, — I laid
out a portion of it in the purchase of powder and shot,
to be employed in shooting woodquests and squirrels.
Not that I loved the sport ; for, to fatigue myself to
death during the entire length of a day, besides tearing
my skin and clothes in killing one or two very harmless
animals, was never to me a source of pleasure. But
necessity consulteth not our tastes. One Thursday when
our treasure amounted to ten sous, and the children
had a holiday, I provided myself with ammunition and
started in company with Charles, a young French
gentleman and a keen sportsman, to shoot wild tur-
keys on the picturesque banks of the Medina. After
beating the bushes and copsewood, to the utter des-
truction of our clothes and hands, we failed to start a
single bird. Seeing this, my companion directed his at-
tention to coveys of partridges, which whizzed by us at
every step. I continued my way along the river's edge,
picking my steps with great caution, lest I should
tread on rattlesnakes or congos, — hideous black ser-
pents, extremely dangerous, which abound in the
neighbourhood of watercourses. I arrived at length
at a bend of the river where the water calmly reposed
under the shadow of enormous fig trees. Athwart the
foliage the sun's rays gilded the particoloured water-
lilies, which formed the framework of this sparkling

E 2

52

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

mirror. The chase was soon forgotten, and whilst I
stood admiring this lovely spot, the leaves of the water-
lilies were agitated, and I observed them disappear, and
form, as it were, a pathway under the water. It at
once occurred to me that some large fish was taking his
promenade through this delicious aquatic garden, when
suddenly I recognised the bony, dark brown back of a
crocodile.

In general, when I apprehend even an imaginary
danger, my first impulse is to avoid it ; nevertheless,
should any useful object be attained by confronting it,
my second impulse brings me into its presence; hence I
resolved on killing this amphibious creature, with a view
to increase our stock of provisions. Being provided with
small shot only, I charged the gun heavily with it, in
the fervent hope that the animal would turn the side of
his head towards me. I raised the gun to my shoulder,
and stood ready to fire. But whether it was ill-luck,
or that the crocodile suspected danger, the fact is,
he only exposed the front of his head. At length,
however, he did make the desired move: I fired, and
the animal disappeared under water. Have I missed
him ? No. Something comes up to the surface of the
water. I leaped for joy on perceiving that it was the
crocodile's belly. In truth I was very proud. This
animal is so hideous that I had no pity for him. I
called out to my companion with all my strength.
He at the same moment was hurling anathemas
against my shot, the report of which had frightened
some partridges which he had kept in view for the
last quarter of an hour. Still, fearing that some ac-
cident had occurred, he ran towards me in all haste,
and entered into all my delight at the sight of this

CROCODILE HUNT.

53

enormous piece of game, which floated like a quan-
tity of wood on the surface of the water. Still our
task was only half done ; it remained for us to secure
the prize. The river, on issuing from the basin, became
very narrow and rapid. Our enormous prey floated
down with the current, very slowly, to be sure, but
should it once reach this narrow spot, it was entirely
lost to us. The basin was very deep, so that we durst
not venture in, as neither of us could swim; and
although at the place where the river entered, it was
shallow enough, yet there was danger of being carried
into the deep water beyond our depth by the strength
of the current. Quite undecided as to how we should
manage, and filled with disagreeable misgivings, we
followed the motion of the crocodile with anxious
minds. Fortunately, a tree which floated down before
it, arrived crosswise, having encountered some obstacle
at the point where the river issues from the basin,
stopped, and arrested the motion of the crocodile.
Time was thus afforded to consider what was best to
be done.

I recollected there was a farm-house on the other
side of the river, about half-a-mile distant from us. I
resolved therefore to cross the river with my clothes
on, a task of no small difficulty, a dangerous one too,
as I was up to my arm-pits in water. Having
reached the farm-house, I found no one there, and
retraced my steps quite out of sorts. The second
passage of the river was even more dangerous than the
first, and I was nigh falling into a hole, into which the
water flung itself with tremendous fury. What was
to be done now ? We cut a long thick liane, which
was to be our harpoon ; and having advanced into the

E 3

54

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

water up to the waist, I cast it over the crocodile's
back, (for by this time his back was again uppermost),
and we by this means drew him to the bank. All
at once, his tail commenced to lash our legs. Off we
set at the top of our speed, uttering cries of horror the
while. We fancied that those jaws of eighteen inches,
and armed with sixty- seven long sharp teeth, were at
our heels. At length we stopped. " Sure as a gun,"
said I, " he is dangerously wounded, and these movements
of the tail are either the last convulsions of expiring
life, or merely the agitation of the water which we set
in motion." This tail, too, was to me a subject of serious
reflection. Eeport said it was excellent for culinary
purposes ; it would serve therefore to save, in a very
satisfactory way, our provisions of dried and smoked
meat. Having recharged my pistol and rifle, we re-
turned, but the crocodile had not moved. I fired point-
blank into his eye, and under the shoulder, not indeed
without trembling a little. He was dead at last, there
could be no doubt about it now. In length he mea-
sured ten feet, and in circumference, round the middle
of the carcass, four feet. He was a little too heavy to
be carried by two men. We therefore abandoned him
for the moment, half plunged in the water and mud,
with his belly turned up to the sun, and off we started
for Castroville, to procure assistance and announce our
victory. Although crocodiles are not rare in the Medina,
still they are very seldom killed. The news caused quite
a sensation in the town. A waggon set out without
delay, followed by a veritable procession as uproarious
and as gay as one can well imagine. The distance was
six miles. It required six men to put the animal into
the waggon. Although killed in the morning, it did

our church.

55

not reach our garden until the evening. On opening it
we found in the stomach two stones as large as the fist,
six others as large as hens' eggs, besides a great quan-
tity of pebbles. Add to this seven or eight entire
lobsters. The cooking of it was a real fete. It is only
the fleshy portions of the tail that are eaten. We dis-
tributed it liberally. The flesh did not strike me as
well flavoured. It was but too evident that the animal
had lain in the mud during the hottest part of the day.
There also emanated from it a powerful odour of musk,
which got into our heads, and destroyed our appetites.
This odour remained in our clothes for more than a
week afterwards.

Sometimes I took out the boys of the school for a
walk. In winter they collected fire-wood and wild
salad for their families ; while in summer they gathered
flowers and moss for the church altar. These walks
delighted them ; and they cherished the tenderest love
for him who afforded them this enjoyment. Still I durst
not allow them this pleasure too often, as I feared to
expose them to the danger of being bitten by serpents,
or pricked by the thorns of the cactus, whose wounds
are very painful, and sometimes very slow in healing.
To save them from these accidents, it was necessary
in certain places to carry them one by one in my arms
from one spot to another. I was also obliged to ex-
amine with the greatest care the salad they had col-
lected, for in. the neighbourhood of Castroville there is
found an herb which resembles it very much, and is
of such a deadly nature that the Indians employ it to
poison their arrows. On one occasion an entire family,
consisting of six persons, died at Vandenberg in the
most excruciating tortures after partaking of it.

E 4

56

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Our church was a small hut, constructed of earth and
wood. Only a very few families could find accommo-
dation in it, while the great bulk of the congregation were
obliged to assist at mass, and the other offices of reli-
gion outside. We borrowed a small bell from a Swiss
colonist, who, according to the custom of his country,
had it suspended from his cow's neck. On the roof
of the church, four pieces of wood surmounted by a
cross were adjusted, and this was the belfry. Not-
withstanding the smallness of the bell, the air is so
pure in Texas, that its tinklings were heard over all
the town, and even far away on the plain, and in the
mountains, more particularly in the morning and
evening.

Already the zeal of the Abbe Dubuis for the reli-
gious, moral, and material amelioration of the colonists
was producing its fruits. The people began to sanctify
the Sunday, and were losing the habit of working on
that day, with a view of reposing the next in drunk-
enness and debauchery. Warnings, too, which the Al-
mighty vouchsafed them, strengthened the preachings
of the good missionary. Numerous accidents befell
those colonists who worked on Sundays. In the end,
all felt the obligation of keeping holy the Sabbath day.
On Sundays before and after the exercises of religion,
and on week days after work, we had numerous visits
from those who sought our counsel with reference to
the management and improvement of their farms. The
colonists even submitted their litigated points to the
Abbe Dubuis, and invariably abided by his decisions.
They regarded in the missionary not merely the priest
who instructs, encourages, and consoles, but further also,
and more the practical man, who is acquainted with a

THE MISSIONARY AND HIS MISSION.

57

thousand means of conquering the material necessities of
life, of rendering the soil productive, of augmenting its
resources; in a word they looked upon him as a father
of a family, who provides for all the necessities of his
children, both physical and moral, entirely forgetting
himself for their sakes, and enduring on their behalf
fatigues and privations of all sorts. And thus we were
wholly devoted to our flocks, and to the furtherance
of their interests spiritual and temporal. The tender
piety of our people, the poverty of our little church,
the simplicity of our ceremonies, frequently touched my
heart ; and many a time, while I held in my hands our
only ostensory of plain wood, which contained the most
sacred Host, tears of joy fell from my eyes. Ah ! in
the noble cathedrals of France, how full of splendour
is religion in the external pomp of her ceremonial.
Gold and silver, and thousands of lights, dazzle the eye,
and speak to the imagination ; here, on the contrary,
everything speaks to the heart, and transports it
burning with love to the throne of God.

Every Sunday, at ten o'clock, was celebrated the
adorable sacrifice of the mass. The music was very
good. We had organised a choir, which succeeded
beyond our expectation. At three o'clock the faithful
assembled to say the rosary. This exercise was fol-
lowed by vespers and the benediction of the most
Blessed Sacrament. The paschal solemnity of 1849
was truly consoling to us. All the Catholics of Castro-
ville, with very few exceptions, approached the holy
table. I had resolved that our little chapel should be
decked out and wear quite a festive air for this so-
lemnity, so I commenced its decoration the previous
evening, and borrowed all the shawls and pieces of

58

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

finery, and candlesticks, to be found in Castroville. I
even procured two small doors to construct lateral
altars. The muslin curtains and shawls served as
tapestry. I turned wooden vases in a lathe, and gilded
them. In these I placed flowers of every hue and
size, which I had gathered in the woods and open
country. All this magnificence filled the colonists
with astonishment. Next day the Catholics of the
town, and of the surrounding country, assisted at
the celebration of the Divine Mysteries, with feel-
ings of profound reverence, on bended knees, bare-
headed, and regardless of the burning sun, which
darted its rays upon them. Poor isolated congregation !
How lively, sincere, touching, was this piety on that
day ! The Almighty must have looked down with
complacency on the little corner of earth where thou
ofFeredst up thy prayers ! How favourably did thy
piety contrast with the wavering, lukewarm piety of
the city population of Europe ! In deserts and solitude,
the blessings of religion are so much the more fully ap-
preciated, as they are rarely accorded. Human insti-
tutions, for the protection of life and property, either do
not exist, or are, at best, very inefficient. Man seems
placed more immediately under the immediate pro-
tection of his Creator, and hence it comes that he
raises his eyes and heart unto Him with greater
facility and truth.

At this time I received from my bishop a letter,
in which the good prelate expresses all his tender so-
licitude for our poor mission This, too, would

form a magnificent chapter of all his labours and
sacrifices ! Poor like ourselves, the bishop was obliged
to perform all the menial offices of his house, as well as

PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC LIBERALITY.

59

to teach and administer the sacrament, as a simple
priest. Many are not aware, perhaps, that missionary
bishops and priests receive no salary, either from go-
vernment, or from the church, or from individuals.
Their only resources for subsistence, maintenance,
journeys, building of churches, hospitals, schools, con-
vents, and colleges, are derived from their own in-
dustry, the offerings of their families, who in general
are very poor, and public or private charity, with some
aid from the Propagation of the Faith. All this is but
a mere trifle, when in presence of necessities so great
and so numerous. It is only within a few years that
the Propagation of the Faith has disbursed for all the
missions of the globe about three millions of francs.
The revenue of each bishop is very slender, in every
respect, the gross sum, on an average, not exceed-
ing fourteen or fifteen thousand francs ; and this is
diminished owing to the decreased value of money in
foreign countries. A bishop who receives twenty thou-
sand francs in the United States, that is, four thousand
dollars, in reality only receives in value four thousand
francs; for the dollar in the United States, as far as
outlay is concerned, is equivalent to about a franc in
French money. The receipts of the Propagation of the
Faith, from its foundation in 1822 to 1846, that is to
say, in twenty-four years, have amounted to about
thirty millions. Now, the English Bible Society, which
has been in existence only a few years, had disbursed
in 1851 about ninety-five millions of francs. If to this
sum we add the enormous outlays of the American
Bible Society, the Hindoostan Society, and the Anglo-
Indian and German Societies, for the diffusion of the
Bible and religious books in India alone, we shall have

GO

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

a total quite fabulous and incredible, and in com-
parison with which the disbursements of the Propaga-
tion of the Faith will appear as the grain of mustard
seed mentioned in the Gospel. Still the work of the
Propagation of the Faith, notwithstanding its insignifi-
cance when compared with the wants of the missions
or with the immense resources of the Protestant Bible
Society, is blessed by God. and produces results of such
magnitude, that those of our rich adversaries might be
set down at zero, even according to their own avowal,
in comparison with them. What secures our triumph
in the propagation of the light of the Gospel is our self-
abnegation, our devotedness, and our exclusive and un-
changeable confidence in God. "With us, labourers in
the Lord's vineyard are wanted ; but the Almighty
visibly protects us, and rewards all our labours and
fatigues. Protestant missionaries, on the other hand,
largely recompensed as they are by Governments and
Bible Societies, exhibit little of devotedness or self-
denial in the working of the mission. They are persons
who live in the midst of ease and comfort : and, having
powerful aids to back and support them, they amass
worldly wealth and riches in the exercise of an easy
ministry, which is productive of no fruit whatever,
except for the missionaries themselves. In a word,
they receive a great deal, and give but little. We, on
the contrary, receive nothing, and give all, even our
lives ; and thus it is that the poverty of our mission-
aries is extreme. One time, the Abbe Dubuis fancied that
he stood in need of a necessary article of dress. Well,
out of a blue cotton petticoat, which a widower had
given on the occasion of his wife's death, he made for
himself a pair of pantaloons. On another occasion, he

PRIVATIONS AND DEVOTEDNESS.

61

prayed his congregation to pardon him if he did not
preach to them ; his strength was not equal to it, he
said ; he had not touched food for forty-eight hours !
For a long time we had only one cassock between us ;
so that whilst one said mass, the other walked about in
his shirt- sleeves. I met the missionary priest of Bra-
zoria on one occasion. The good man's pantaloons were
of a blue colour, and very wide ; his coat, of black
cotton velvet ; the shape and colour of his hat baffled all
description. A kind of old tin bath, without a bottom,
served him for bed, altar to say mass, and dining-table.
What efforts of management and industry, what ob-
stacles to surmount, what miseries to undergo, in these
solitudes, in order to support life, to establish a church
and a school, and secure a prosperous future to the
mission ! Surely, the missionaries cannot expect that
Providence will come to their aid on every occasion by
a miraculous interposition ; but at least (thanks to God!)
those distant regions are frequently witnesses of pro-
digies of energy, constancy, and patience. Let us not,
however, expose all the wretchedness of the past ; let
us rather throw over it the mantle of forgetfulness :
God sees it all, and that is enough.

And yet the missionary has greater need than others
of good food, and material comforts, of every kind.
Obliged to undergo unheard-of fatigues, he rests not
quietly within doors, with his parishioners grouped
around him, despatching the business of the mission
without rising from his seat. At every instant we must
set out for distant colonies intrusted to our care7 and
which are spread over an immense surface. We per-
form these long journeys sometimes on horseback, and
sometimes in a rickety waggon : we rarely go on foot ;

62

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

besides the fatigue, it would be attended with great
danger. Sometimes the route is uncertain. In order
not to lose our way, it is necessary to make all the
little observations by which an experienced traveller is
guided. Every sign is to be studied — the bark of
the trees, the shades of which indicate north or south ;
the branches and foliage, the bend of which points out
the direction of the trade winds ; the tracks of animals,
and the marks of man and wheels, when they are to be
found.

My first excursion was to the colony of Dhanis,
thirty-five miles west of Castroville. An Alsacian,
who had served in Africa, offered his services to take
me there on his waggon, drawn by oxen. It was in
winter, while the days were short and the weather very
inclement, owing to the north wind, which brought with
it from the Rocky Mountains a piercing cold, which
froze my very vitals. In addition to this, there was a
dense fog, a thing of rare occurrence in those countries.
We had hardly entered the Chaparal, situate on the hills
which are in the neighbourhood of Castroville, when we
found it impossible to see our way, and no alternative
was left us but to bivouac in the open copse- wood. It
was the first time that I had nassed the night sub diva.
and^ for the moment, I feared it would be my last. My
companion unyoked his oxen, while I broke down
boughs of the mesquite, and heaped together a quantity
of dry wood for a fire. This operation was by no
means an easy one, for the darkness was so great, that
I could not move a pace without risk of losing my way.
The Alsacian coming to my aid, we collected a large
quantity of fire-wood, which it was necessary to use
thriftily, as the night was very long. Then, enveloped

FIRST EXCURSION.

63

in our blankets, we stretched ourselves on the earth, with
our feet towards the fire, for a night's repose. But such
repose ! Thanks to the fog, I felt, at the end of half-an-
hour, as if I were in an iced bath. The fire scorched
my feet, whilst my teeth chattered with cold. I shivered
all over, and was so stiff that I could hardly move, while
the Alsacian, who was the stronger man, and used to
campaigning, snored as lustily as if he were at home
in his bed. I had neither courage nor strength to
awaken him, but lay on my bed of stone and mud,
doubtful as to whether I should ever rise from it. Be-
fore daybreak, the Alsacian woke up, and came over to
me. He heard my dying voice, took me in his arms,
and laid me before the fire, which he renewed with
branches and briers. Animation was restored by de-
grees. After a little, I could move my limbs, and, as
there were none of them frozen, we were able to resume
our journey. But our oxen had disappeared in the fog.
Here was a business. We set about looking for them,
each at his own side, and groping our way as we pro-
ceeded. After marches and counter-marches to no effect,
I at last perceived, at an opening, the footmarks of ani-
mals on the grass. These I followed for a long distance ;
but fearing lest I might lose my way, I retraced my
steps. Suddenly we heard, at no great distance from
us, the crackling of branches, which were trodden down
under the steps of some large animal. Arriving on the
spot, we found that it was our oxen, which were crop-
ping the trees hard by our bivouac, and which appeared
quite unconscious that we had given ourselves so much
trouble on their account. We had lost two or three
hours in useless search, so, without further loss of time,
we again yoked our beasts, and set out.

64

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

The Chaparal in which we passed the night, had been
fatal to many a colonist who went there to gather
wood or nuts. One of the first missionaries of the
colony lost his way in it, and was never afterwards
heard of. Those who went to look for him, found the
bleached skeletons of many colonists who had come by
their death there, sitting at the foot of a tree with their
sacks still full of nuts.

The sun burst forth at last, and chased away the
fog. The route, which was soon lit up and warmed by
his rays, has something truly wild and tropical about it.
The cactus and the Mexican agaves abound in the
greatest variety, growing here as luxuriantly as under
the equator. In this part of Texas you frequently
meet dry beds of rivers. Sometimes, too, the rivers
are intermitting, appearing for a while, then dis-
appearing they are lost to your sight. I stopped for
a short time at Quihi, a small Alsacian colony, twelve
miles from Castroville, frequently visited by Indians.
Once a colonist named Meyer was seized here by
the Comanches, bound to a tree, and transfixed by
their arrows. On another occasion, an Alsacian woman
was made prisoner by the ferocious Red Skins, and
carried oif on horseback ; but profiting by a favourable
moment she slipped from their grasp, and galloped off
at the top of her horse's speed, while the Indians gave
chase, and pierced her body with their lances and
arrows. Still she succeeded in effecting her escape, not-
withstanding all her wounds. But the shock was too
much for her; for in a short time after the poor creature
became a maniac.

Seven miles from Quihi is Yandenberg, another Alsa-
cian colony, where we remained to dine. In a small

COLONY OF DHANIS.

valley near tins latter village we found, strewn on the
earth in myriads, balls of native ore of various sizes and
covered with a calcareous coating. But for want of suffi-
cient fuel, this mine, lying on the earth's surface, is turned
to no account. From this place to Dhanis the route lies
through a country wilder than we had yet crossed, and
much frequented by the Indians. In a vast prairie we
found a natural road traced out by the constant incur-
sions of these people. At every instant we saw herds of
deer, which appeared quite tame, and looked at us, as
we passed, with astonishment. It is here, too, in these
solitudes that the Mexican lion is met with, which
rather resembles the lioness of our menageries than the
king of the forest. Fatigued and bewildered as much
by these ever-shifting pictures and the ideas they gave
rise to, as by the joltings of our waggon, we arrived at
length at the end of our journey. It was night. My
companion treated me to a part of his bed. Like all
the cabins in the thinly-peopled regions of Mexico,
his cabin was a square formed of stakes, driven into the
earth and joined and kept together by other vertical
stakes, or by thongs of leather. The roof was of
thatch. He offered me a glass of whisky, the very
smell of which gave me headache.

Of all our colonies Dhanis was the most exposed to
the Indians. In five weeks they had paid three visits,
obliging the people each time to furnish them with
food, tobacco, and powder. With a view of preventing
the recurrence of such disorders, the government
established a military camp two miles from Dhanis.
Wild animals abound in the neighbourhood of this
colony. On one occasion during mass, which was

F

66

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

celebrated in a wooden hut, the dogs commenced
barking in a most terrible manner. My Alsacian
seized his rifle, left the cabin, and went out to see the
cause of the noise. It was an enormous panther, which
chased by the dogs, had taken refuge in a tree near the
cabin which served us as a chapel. To see the beast
and shoot it dead, was for my friend the work of an
instant. Another time an ill-advised boar, attracted
no doubt by the chant, entered the chapel whilst we
were at vespers. His curiosity cost him dearly. He
was killed on the spot, and eaten next day.

I had come to Dhanis to baptize two children of an
Alsacian. Being as yet, at that epoch, little acquainted
with German, I had written on a scrap of paper the
word taufen (to baptize) in order not to confound it
with Jcaufen (to purchase), or verkaufen (to sell),
words which were ever resounding in my ears. Un-
fortunately, setting out, I forgot the paper, and the
three words were so confounded in my memory that I
had no means of discovering the one which was so in-
dispensable to me. Trusting to my good star, I directed
my steps towards the father's house, and seeing a man
on the threshold of the cabin I inquired of him, after
the usual salutations, had he any children to ... . ver-
kaufen (to sell)? By the surprise and wrath depicted
in the Alsacian's countenance, I at once discovered that
I had employed the wrong word, and accordingly asked
him if he had not two children to . . . kaufen (to buy?)
This time, his patience gave way, and I received a
broadside of such energetic compliments, which I
understood one way or other, that I shall not now
attempt to translate them. At last as there was but

TRUSTING MY GOOD STAR.

67

one other word to pronounce, I was sure there would
be no mistake this time, so letting pass the avalanche
of abuse which I had brought down upon me, I said to
him, with all mildness : 4 4 If it is neither to sell nor to
buy, then it must be to baptize." My friend looked
at me fixedly, and in the end discovered, by my
appearance and dress, that I might be the priest who
had come to baptize his two children. Having made
this discovery, he burst out into fits of endless laughter,
and the infection seizing me, I imitated his uproarious
hilarity. This over, we settled on the hour and place
when the ceremony should take place. Since then I
never trusted to my bonne etoile.

I returned to Castroville, alone, and on horseback.
It was evening when I reached the town. The Abbe Du-
buis had already arrived from an excursion in the east.
Seated by the fireside, we recounted our adventures,
and the impressions of our respective journeys. Then
memory carried us away, naturally enough, to France,
our families, and our friends ; — subjects ever full of
charms, and upon which we always returned with re-
newed pleasure. Who can describe the joy felt by a
missionary, condemned to isolation, obliged to con-
centrate within himself his feelings and ideas, separated
from his flock as much by the difficulty of expressing
himself in their language as by the difference of position
and intelligence, when he finds a friend, and can freely
unbosom to him all his thoughts and feelings ? And if
this friend be a fellow-countryman and a confrere, the
charm of these conversations makes the hours pass like
sweet dreams, lightly and rapidly. But, alas ! these
evenings of delightful intercourse, when there was a

F 2

68

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

free and mutual interchange of thoughts and feelings,
were very rare. Our missionary duties kept us always
on horseback, galloping across woods and plains. The
fire was dying away, the dawn was brightening the
prairie, and we were still recounting our adventures,
and talking over the mission, and our absent kinsfolk
and friends, and the old country.

69

CHAP. III.

AN ALARM. — SCENES IN THE WILDERNESS. — THE CAMP OF THE
LEONA. — EXPEDITION TO PASO-DEL-NORTE. — STEEPLE-CHASE ON
A WILD HORSE. — FREDERICKSBURG. — RUINS OF THE SPANISH
MISSIONS. — SUNSET. — THE CAMP OF SAN ANTONIO. A DIS-
AGREEABLE RENCOUNTER. — BRAUNFELS.

It will be remembered that our pastoral duties extended
to the Catholic soldiers who served in the American
army. One morning a soldier came from the camp at
Dhanis, with two good horses, and asked me to go and
see one of his comrades, who had need of my ministry.
He was a gallant Irishman, whose only fault was an
insatiable thirst for whisky. He regretted having left
his own beautiful country, and spoke with bitterness of
heart of the cruel treatment which the Catholic soldiers
received at the hands of Protestant officers. In these
isolated camps the soldiers are quite at the mercy of
their commanders, who feel or entertain a deep-rooted,
innate hatred for Irishmen and the Catholic religion.
The most barbarous chastisements are inflicted for
offences which in France would be fully expiated by a
few hours' imprisonment. I have seen soldiers suspended
by the arms from the branches of trees for drunkenness.
Sometimes, too, they tie their arms and legs, and fling
them repeatedly into a river, and then drag them to
the bank with a cord. A soldier, stricken with a severe
malady, lay on his bed of suffering in chains. He died
in his chains; and, perhaps, in consequence of being

F 3

70

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

kept chained. The surgeon and commanding officer
were, it is true, brought to trial, for the public voice
accused them loudly of murder ; but their judges, who
were quite as intolerant as the accused in matters of
caste and religion, acquitted them. Happily, such
cases of cruelty as the above-mentioned are rare. They
are individual acts for which, ordinarily speaking, the
American officers, who in general are men distinguished
alike for their high intelligence and accomplishments,
are in nowise responsible. Still these cruelties serve to
nurture a bitter animosity in the hearts of the Irish
soldiers, and to teach them that the liberty, equality,
and fraternity of the United States are either hollow
phrases, or applied ironically to European novices.

At the camp of Dhanis I baptized a sergeant's child.
The sponsor on the occasion was the farrier of the
company : the poor fellow was killed the same afternoon,
by an Indian who was lurking about the tents, seeking
an opportunity to steal some of our horses. I intended
to make an excursion as far as the camp called Fort-
Inge, forty-seven miles from Dhanis, and more than
eighty miles west of Castro ville. The major promised me
a good mule for the journey. I therefore resolved to re-
main for the night at the camp, and start at sunrise next
morning for the Leona. The doctor, a Scotchman by
birth, but of French extraction, took a great liking to
me, and offered me half his tent, and a bed for the
night. I accepted the kind offer with pleasure. While
supper was preparing we went out, at the risk of meet-
ing Indians, to search for fossils on the banks of the
Rio-Seco, which runs near the tents. Fossils abound
in the bed of this river. Besides shells, the calcareous
molecules of which were replaced by molecules of iron,

THE ALARM.

71

we found a petrified oyster, eighteen inches long, and
weighing fourteen pounds. During the night we were
aroused from sleep by two shots fired by the sentinel
who was guarding the horses. The circumstance which
led to this incident was this. The commandant's cook,
purposing to make some cakes for the next day, went
out to collect wood wherewith to heat the oven. Un-
fortunately, he directed his steps to where the horses
were picketed. The murder committed during the
day had aroused the vigilance of the sentinel ; he
hearing footfalls, and being prevented by the obscurity
of the night from recognising the cook, cried out, — -
" Who goes there ? " There was no reply. Off went a
shot in the direction of the noise. " Who goes there ?"
again shouted the sentinel. Same silence. Off went
another shot ; but this time the ball had struck some
one. It was the poor cook, whom fear had rendered
dumb and motionless. The ball had caused a slight
flesh wound. By this time the entire camp was on
foot. Every one rushed to the scene of action ; soldiers
with their muskets and sabres, officers with swords and
pistols. Every one carried a lantern or some light or
other. But if it be a fact that all were armed and
furnished with lights, it is also true that not a single
individual was completely dressed. As soon as the
doctor declared that the cook was more frightened than
hurt, each returned to his bed. It was then I cast a
glance on the actors in this scene, the most novel I had
ever witnessed, inasmuch as shirts and night-caps were
the prevailing costumes. In a few minutes all had re-
tired to their tents.

The following morning a soldier was absent from the
muster-roll. He was subsequently found bathed in his

F 4

72

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

blood. Unable to endure the hardships of the service,
and the brutality of the officers, the unfortunate fellow
had cut his throat with a razor. In these (extraordi-
nary) countries one sees a great deal in a short time.
I took my departure sick at heart. Scenes like those
I have just described work deep furrows in the heart.
They wear out a man, and that quickly.

On leaving the camp at Dhanis, I traversed a eha-
paral of a most diversified character, covered with oaks
and mesquites. A series of small hills, which I was
obliged to cross, rose and fell on a calcareous base of
diluvian formation. Six miles from the camp I wit-
nessed a most shocking spectacle. Seven Mexicans lay
on the grass, pierced with arrows, scalped, and mangled.
A heap of white ashes, still warm, showed that they had
been surprised at their encampment the preceding night.
There was a waggon near the spot, but the oxen had
been taken away — the chests with which it had been
laden broken open, and their contents rifled and carried
off. Black vultures were bearing away in their beaks
pieces of human flesh. Fearing lest I, too, might be
surprised by the Indians, and meet the same fate as the
Mexicans, I continued my route without stopping.

I entered a vast and undulating prairie which re-
sembled an immense cemetery (which had been aban-
doned), where every grave formed a funereal wave.
Here and there, at long intervals, mesquites with
gnarled branches displayed their foliage of bluish green.
Clumps of acacias too were distributed in the most ca-
pricious way over this plain. The plain itself was covered
with the most fertile pastures. Herds of deer were
quietly browsing on the rich herbage, and seemed quite
heedless of my presence. A stag, which lay with his

WILDERNESS SCENES.

73

whole family by the way side, suffered me to approach
without moving. In the foreground, along the northern
horizon, were wooded hills. Over these rose giant
mountains, some of which stood out against the sky
with their ridges of granite — others displayed their
reddish summits— whilst others were clad in sombre
verdure. This magnificent landscape, wherein the wild
struggled for pre-eminence with the sublime, was steeped
in floods of light which rendered vague and aerial both
colour and form. I was deeply struck with it; and
would have spent hours in meditation on the wonderful
wrorks of God, lost, as it were, in these boundless soli-
tudes of America.

In the middle of this prairie I crossed, dry-footed, the
Rio-Bianco ; this river must have ceased to flow for
many years, for its bed is filled up with sand, and
acacias of enormous size, and oaks, and sycamores, are
growing in it. I crossed the Rio-Frio about an hour
before sunset. The river is broad but very shallow.
The water is cold, blue, limpid, and pleasant. My mule
and myself stopped a minute or two in the middle of the
stream to refresh ourselves. The left bank is covered
with a white sand, very fine and brilliant, in which grow
a few stunted mesquites. The right bank, on the con-
trary, is rocky, and covered with trees and luxuriant
plants.

At some miles from the camp of the Leona, I witnessed
another sight, as hideous as that which had filled me
with such horror in the morning, near the camp of
Dhanis. A woman was bound to a tree, and entirely
scalped. The poor creature still gave signs of life. At
her feet lay three Mexicans scalped also, but quite dead.
They had received numerous lance wounds. Their

74

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

bodies were literally bristling with arrows. Their blood
was already clotted ; around the woman's mouth was a
quantity of bloody hair, which showed that the Indians
had endeavoured to make her eat the scalp of one of her
companions. Thousands of wasps buzzed voraciously
about the four victims. I clashed off to the camp for
aid, and arrived there in less than an hour. A phy-
sician, followed by a strong escort provided with a
stretcher, came for the woman, and conveyed her to the
hospital. Fifteen days afterwards she lingered still, and
hopes of saving her life eventually were entertained.
Were these hopes well grounded ? It happens but very
rarely, notwithstanding all that romance writers have
said to the contrary, that the victim survives the ter-
rible operation of scalping. In 1849, more than two
hundred persons, to my own knowledge, were scalped in
the west of Texas, and they all succumbed save this
poor woman, who enjoyed perad venture the very equi-
vocal advantage of a more protracted suffering before
her death. It is true I saw at San Antonio a man who
had been scalped ; but he had been scalped in a wood,
and was thus protected from the sun's rays. Besides,
immediate remedies were applied in his case ; two most
essential conditions, which are rarely fulfilled in places
where the Indians exercise their fury.

The colonel who commanded the camp of the Leona
was an old student of Saumur. He received me with
the greatest kindness and placed a large and well-fur-
nished tent at my disposal. All the Catholic soldiers
had full liberty to visit me when they pleased. I visited
the immense tent which served them for an hospital,
and which contained fourteen or fifteen patients, all Ca-
tholics and Irishmen. Notwithstanding their sufferings,

IRISH CATHOLICS.

75

they received me with a joy which deeply affected me.
I sat by their bedsides and talked to them of their homes
and their holy religion. My visits were long and use-
ful, and attended with solid results.

I have never found more faith, more resignation, or
deeper feelings of religion than in the Irish, and parti-
cularly in those who were the most unfortunate, and
the most severely tried. They love and revere all
God's ministers, no matter from what part of the world
they come ; and for the French missionaries, in parti-
cular, they have always manifested a peculiar attach-
ment. The Irish are the most generous people in the
world, and the most devoted to works of piety. In this
respect there is no difference between rich and poor.
The poor sometimes give beyond their means, and
without ever reflecting that they thus deprive them-
selves of what is necessary to prevent them falling
themselves into distress and misery. This little
digression is to me a duty of gratitude towards this
people, so much misunderstood and calumniated, and
in whom I have seen so much to admire and esteem.

The morning after my arrival, before breakfast, I
visited a small hill of volcanic formation, at the foot of
which the camp was situated. It was a fatiguing task
for me to clamber over high rocks, heaped one upon
another, in the intervals of which grew acacias of
immense size. The summit of the Mamelon was bare.
The rocks were black, as though they had been car-
bonised by a subterranean fire long since extinguished.
From the top of this hill you command a view remark-
able only for its immensity. Nothing varies the
landscape. The little river, the Leona, abounding in
fish, and covered with water-lilies, wound gracefully

76

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

round the camp, under a verdant canopy. During the
day, I went in company with the colonel and his family
to botanise in a neighbouring wood.

The American government had charged a commission
to proceed to Paso-del-Norte, by Texas, with a view of
ascertaining whether this route is better and shorter
than the route by the Missouri and Santa Fe. The
commission was composed of engineers and professors
of natural history. They had an escort of two hundred
soldiers with them, to defend them against the Indians.
In this train were three hundred waggons, laden with
provisions, and a large number of horses, mules, and
oxen. The object of the commission was to secure
advantages at once scientific and commercial. This
twofold object was fully attained, and many precious
discoveries were made in botany and zoology. They
found, in a valley, specimens of the cactus, from five to
six feet in diameter. These cactuses were conical in form,
and covered with fruits and flowers, and so heavy, that
it required six mules to draw one of them in a waggon.
A fossil mastodon was found almost entire in a grotto
in the middle of a rock. The expedition traversed
prairies fifty miles in length, and without rivulet or
spring. The supply of water for men and animals was
brought enormous distances in huge casks. The com-
missioners, in their journey, passed the River of the
Devil. This river has so many windings that they
were obliged to cross it seven times before they reached
Paso-clel-Norte. In some places its banks are so
steep, that they were obliged to throw bridges of
ropes across, and to construct rafts for the passage of
the cattle.

On its return, the expedition passed by the camp of

STEEPLE CHASE.

77

the Leona, where I met it. The travellers, at a sump-
tuous banquet, given in their honour by the colonel, re-
lated their adventures and discoveries ; and so interested
was I by their recitals, that I resolved to accompany
them next day. Still, as the Abbe Dubuis might be
uneasy at my prolonged absence, I begged the colonel to
lend me a horse, which would take me in a few hours to
the camp of Dhanis, where I promised to leave the animal,
and take a fresh horse to carry me on the same day to
Castroville. The colonel kindly acceded to my request.
Accordingly I left the camp at sunrise, in company
with the travellers. After two hours, I pursued my
solitary journey at the top of my horse's speed, lest I
should fall in with Indians. When I arrived at the camp
of Dhanis, I was in a bath of perspiration, and my horse
covered with foam. I went straightway to the com-
mandant, to pray him to lend me another without delay.

" Do you dream of such a thing ? " said he to me.
" To ride eighty miles the same day ! Better rest a
little, and you can start again to-morrow morning."
" No, no ; I must arrive at Castroville this evening.''
" The thing is difficult, but it is possible. Do you
ride well ? "

* I have never been taught to ride. But once on a
horse's back, I fall only when the horse falls."

" That 's all that 's required. Would you like a — ?"
Here he made use of the word wild, which conveyed to
me the idea of mettlesome, instead of the word mustang.

I understood him to oifer me a very spirited horse.
And, suspecting that he wished to frighten me, I
replied firmly, " I desire nothing better. I '11 go all the
quicker on that account." Whereupon he sent for the
horse, and I saw the animal, as he approached, full of fire,

78

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

and held with difficulty by four dragoons, whom he
tossed from one side to the other, although his legs had
been previously tied. At a glance I recognised a real
mustang, a wild horse of the prairies. I was almost
sure of breaking my neck if I mounted such an animal ;
and the imminent peril made my heart beat in a most
unpleasant way. But not wishing to give Americans
an opportunity to jeer at a Frenchman, and above all at
a Catholic priest, I summoned up all my courage, and
prepared to mount.

"Are you really bent upon mounting this horse?"
inquired the officer, who no doubt began to feel twitches
of remorse at exposing me to such danger. " Recollect
that he has been only mounted twice, and that it is but
two days since he was nigh breaking my leg."

" Captain," I replied, proudly, " have the horse held
fast until I am on his back. Then give him his head."

Taking hold of the mane with one hand, and the
saddle with the other, I endeavoured to put my foot in
the stirrup, but all my efforts and ingenuity were un-
availing, the horse all the time was plunging from one
side to the other, and making desperate bounds. My
honour was at stake; I retired one or two paces behind,
then made a spring, and was in the saddle. Having
thrust my feet quickly into the stirrups, and holding
the bridle wTith both hands, I ordered them to loose the
thongs which bound his legs, and to give the horse his
liberty.

Off he started, rushed down the hill, and crossed the
river in the twinkling of an eye, amid the hurrahs of the
Irish soldiers who had assembled to witness the scene,
and who exulted in my triumph. I was barely able to
keep the mustang's head in the right direction ; he bore

STEEPLE CHASE.

79

me along with such speed, that I felt a dizziness in the
head; at every stump of a tree, at every plant of any-
thing like fantastic shape, he started aside so suddenly,
that I was many times in great danger of being flung
from the saddle and rolled in the dust. Thanks to God
I held fast. After an hour's furious speed the mustang
became knocked up a little, and I was then able to di-
rect his pace. Arrived at Yandenberg, I made no stay,
notwithstanding my fatigue and hunger, and. having
hastily drunk off a bowl of milk, I resumed my journey.
Some panther skins which had been spread out to dry
frightened my horse, and he dashed through an open-
ing into an inclosure where a few bulls were peacefully
chewing the cud. Instantly, as we appeared, up started
the bulls and commenced bellowing most terrifically.
The horse, terror-stricken, cleared at one prodigious
bound the wall of the inclosure. I remained in the sad-
dle, I know not how ; and now we sped through the air
more furiously than ever. At length, near Quihi, the
horse dashed aside at the sight of a rattlesnake, and in
his fright struck against the trunk of a tree and so hurt
himself that he was thenceforward obliged to hobble
along at a very moderate pace. Although nearly worn
out by fatigue and exhaustion, I dismounted, to give
some ease to the poor animal, and leading him by the
bridle I made the twelve miles which still lay between
me and Castroville on foot. Notwithstanding the delay,
I arrived before the night set in, and having handed
over the poor disabled animal to the sheriff to be sent
back to the camp of the Leona, I went to bed. On that
clay, having made sixty-eight miles on horseback and
twelve on foot, under a burning sun, without food or
repose, and at the horse's utmost speed, I was so knocked

80

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

up and exhausted that I could not eat any supper, so
threw myself into my hammock with my clothes on, and
was soon asleep, and dreaming of solitude, Indians,
balls, and mustangs.

The most difficult colony to attend of all those which
composed our mission was Fredericksburg, situate a
hundred miles north-west of San Antonio. The route
is most dangerous on account of the ferocious Comanches
bears, and rattlesnakes which abound there. Besides
this it is cut up in different parts by torrents which it
is necessary to cross sometimes by swimming. Other-
wise the scenery is enchanting, picturesque, and moun-
tainous. Before you reach the colony, you are obliged
to pass through a little valley strewn with fragments of
enormous rocks which seem to have been placed there
by giant hands for the construction of a colossal temple.
Near Fredericksburg is a mountain of white stone, soft
as alabaster, of which the inhabitants make lustres and
ornaments for chimney-pieces. The colony is composed
of four thousand inhabitants, of whom two thousand
are Eoman Catholics. When the Abbe Dubuis went there
in 1849, to prepare the Catholics for their paschal com-
munion, he had the consolation to see almost all the
Catholics of the town and neighbouring country approach
the holy table with sentiments of the most tender piety.

When a missionary arrives in a town or village, his
first care is to preach, and instruct the people, to teach
the children their catechism, to prepare the children
for their first communion, to administer the sacraments,
and organise public prayers. The last day of his visit
is consecrated to the general communion. At his de-
parture, many females of that pious colony cast them-
selves at the feet of M. Dubuis, beseeching him not to

FREDERICKSBURG.

81

abandon them, but to return to his children as soon as
possible ; or at least to send them a priest that they
may not die without the aids and consolations of re-
ligion. Alas! the good intentions of the missionaries
are frequently unavailing. The harvest is plenteous, but
the labourers are few.

Thirty-five miles from Fredericksburg, towards the
north, is the small colony called El Llano, from the
river on which it is situated. The neighbourhood of this
colony is rich in vegetation and game, wild turkeys
and swans being very common.

When Abbe Dubuis left Fredericksburg he took the
northern route leading to the Mormon settlement,
instead of the southern route which would bring him
to San Antonio. As soon as he perceived his error he
changed his direction, without, at the same time, re-
tracing his steps. This course was the longest, but
safest under the circumstances. Journeying along he
saw a wood of wild cherry trees, which was an important
discovery, inasmuch as up to that time the existence of
the wild cherry tree was unknown in Texas. Further
on he crossed a prairie where rattlesnakes were in such
numbers that his principal care was to prevent his
horse from treading on them and being bitten. Then
came a thick forest, through which he found it difficult
to work a passage. Twice in the clearings he discovered
traces of a recent encampment of Red Skins. Mules had
been killed and eaten by these Indians ; their bloody
skeletons were lying near heaps of smouldering ashes.
A kind of pathway which he followed conducted him
to the steep bank of a broad river, which appeared to
him to be the Colorado. For an instant he had the
idea of abandoning his horse, swimming across the

G

82

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

river, and having climbed the opposite bank as well as
he could, to continue his journey on foot. This plan,
however, he renounced as being too difficult of execu-
tion ; so putting his trust in God to direct his steps, he
threw the reins on his horse's neck, and allowed the
poor beast to choose the route he liked best. The horse,
thus left to himself, brought him in less than an hour to
a German farm-house, where he found a comfortable
night's lodging. Hard by the farm was the route to
San Antonio, which the Abbe pursued ; and he arrived
without accident the second day afterwards.

Whilst the Abbe Dubuis was journeying in the north,
I was visiting the east in company with a French mis-
sionary, who had come to see us. I commenced with the
two ancient Spanish missions of San Jose and Concepcion,
which presented nothing but ruins. These missions
are only two or three miles from San Antonio, and on a
small river of the same name. The one is situate on
the right bank, in the midst of a chaparal. The other,
on J:he left bank, is hidden in a small wood, which com-
pletely covers it with its gigantic trees.

San Jose is still surrounded by a thick wall, which
incloses one or two acres of land. Here rises a church
of moderate size, beautiful in its proportions, rich in
sculpture, with a graceful belfry. The entire facade is
covered with arabesques and basso-relievos, which, unfor-
tunately, have been defaced, broken, and maltreated in
every way. The angels and saints too, in the niches,
have been all mutilated by the shot of the Texians
during the War of Independence. The doors and
windows of the cloister and sacristy are richly orna-
mented with carvings in the style of the Renaissance.
Time is doing its work gradually on the edifice ; still

RUINS OF THE SPANISH MISSIONS.

83

so powerful is the cement, that, unless aided by man's
destructive hand, ages will roll on before they shall be
able to separate one from another the stones of which
it is constructed. The story goes, that this cement was
mixed with the milk of cows and sheep ; and hence its
indestructibility. In the olden times the Spaniards
confined their Indian prisoners in asylums of this kind,
where they were instructed by the Franciscans in re-
ligion, agriculture, and various trades. The cabins of
these Indians were built against the wall which sur-
rounded the mission. Their descendants are, at the
present day, established either at San Antonio, or on
some other points along the river. At San Jose itself,
only a few poor Indo-Mexican families remain, who
cultivate a little maize. They live in the most shocking
state of filth, and sleep at night near their wretched
hovels, with the eternal cigarette ever in their hands.
The vaults of the church, which in former times
resounded with the hymns of divine praise, chanted by
the full and powerful voices of the children of Texas,
now-a-days hear nothing but the shrill squeaking of
fabulous multitudes of dormice that have taken up their
dwelling in these sacred ruins. Wide breaches in the
walls give free access to wild beasts, Indians, and
enormous waggons with their ponderous wheels, which
are lazily dragged along by oxen. Seated under a fig-
tree, Yv7ith feelings of deep grief I contemplated this
work of devastation, consummated rather by man
than by length of ages. The trees, and the white stone
in its framework of vine leaves and creeping plants,
stood out in graceful relief against a sky of sapphire.
My imagination repeopled these deserts, and restored
to the mission that life with which it was heretofore

84

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

animated. I pictured to myself those ferocious Indians,
rendered meek and docile by the teachings of Chris-
tianity, listening with attention to the instructions of
poor monks, who, clad in sackcloth of penance, had come
nine thousand miles to labour for the happiness and
civilisation of idolaters whose life was spent in murder
and pillage. Oh ! it was then I appreciated the beau-
tiful unselfishness of the Christian missionary ! how I
loved that pious devotedness, which the worldly man
admires sometimes, but never understands. With him
proselytism is the work of a morbidly restless, fanatic
spirit; and not the natural consequence of profound
conviction, and of a sincere and generous love for the
most suffering and at the same time the most abandoned
portion of the human family.

No doubt my companion also was indulging in similar
reflections, in presence of the time-honoured ruins. He,
too, viewed and admired them in silence. But we must
depart. We crossed the San Antonio to visit Concepcion.
The church is small and without ornament. The
proximity of the river, and the coolness of the shades,
must render Concepcion an agreeable retreat. We
observed no wall. It had no doubt crumbled to ruin,
and the high grass concealed every remaining vestige
of it. A German farm-house is built against the church.

We left for San Antonio, and having reached the
great square of the town, I was accosted by an American
officer, a Catholic, whom I had known in the United
States. He informed me that he was quartered at the
camp of San Antonio, which had been formed at the
source of the river of the same name ; that he com-
manded the camp, which was composed of about two
hundred soldiers, almost all Catholics and Irishmen ;

RUINS OF THE POWDER HOUSE. 85

and that in a few days they would be ordered to
another station, eighty miles north of Austin, where,
in all probability, they would not have the ministry
of a priest for a long time. I promised to visit him
next day, and prayed him to announce my intention to
his soldiers.

Later in the day, I conducted my companion to a
wooded hill to the east of San Antonio, where may be
seen the ruins of a powder house, which would seem to
be of comparatively recent date, and of Spanish con-
struction. I should be inclined to think that this
edifice had a more useful object than that of being the
receptacle of a few barrels of powder. Most probably
it was a fort which served as a watch tower whence
to reconnoitre the movements of the Indians, and to
protect the town.

These ruins commanded a most magnificent prospect.
To the east a lovely landscape unfolded itself, diver-
sified with plains and little eminences, and here and
there were clumps of beautiful trees; rich pasturage,
where herds of oxen, horses, and sheep roamed at large,
where were scattered the mesquite and the oak in all
its majesty. To the north the mountains and hills,
which bound the horizon, are sufficiently near to enable
you to admire the countless varieties of beauty. At
one time you are struck with the forms, either graceful
or fantastic, which they assume. Then again it is their
rich tints, and ever- varying hues which excite your
admiration. To the west, in a valley, lies the town of
San Antonio, surrounded by a doable row of brick
cabins and reed huts, and intersected by a river,
and by a small stream partially concealed by the
foliage of Chinese lilacs. On the threshold of the

a 3

86

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

cabins, fires are lighted to cook the evening's repast,
while women here and there are singins; and smoking,
young maidens dancing and gambolling about, men lean-
ing listlessly against fig-trees, playing on the mandoline in
pensive mood. These picturesque scenes form a frame-
work of marvellous beauty for the white outline of the
Moorish town, and the dome of the church, which
presides as queen over the picture.

The sun was setting, but setting as he only sets in
the tropics — gilding all nature — the heavens and the
earth — with rays of gold. The azure of the firmament
was disappearing amid dazzling floods of light. Trees
and verdant plains, the city, the distant mountains,
were lighted up as if by magic. The colours of the
prism, warm and dazzling, covered all nature, whilst
the great void was nought but fire and brightness.
Sublime pictures, moving scenes, which remain eter-
nally engraven on the hearts of those who appreciate
them, but which human genius must fail to reproduce,
either by language or pictorial art. How great and
wonderful are Thy ivories, 0 God !

The next clay my ministry called me to Braunfels,
and as I should stop for a little at the camp of San
Antonio, I warned my companion, who wished to
accompany me, that we should set out before sunrise.
Accordingly, next morning, scarcely had the first rays
of light permitted us to distinguish objects around us,
when we saddled our horses, and set off at a gallop.
In those countries where there is no twilight, rosy-
fingered Aurora is unknown. The sun rises so rapidly
to the horizon, that the dawn has not time to light
nature up by degrees from the obscurity of the night.

The morning was delightfully mild ; the dew-clrops

CAMP OF SAN ANTONIO.

87

hung like pearls from the branches of the trees ; the
cardinal and mocking birds chattered their best ; the
golden humming-bird hummed and fluttered from flower
to flower without ceasing ; and I drank in happiness
without reserve. It was a scene to inspire thoughts
of happiness and gratitude to God.

After half-an-hour's fast riding, I arrived at the
source of the San Antonio. The camp, constructed
amphitheatrically, in an open space, presented a most
pleasing appearance. The white tents were erected
in two parallel lines, leaving in the middle an open
space for military exercises. At the extremity of the
camp were the quarters of the commandant, composed
of two large and spacious tents ; outside the lines were
the provision stores, and the prison, constructed of
planks of timber. The commandant liberated all the
prisoners, as a mark of respect to us, and with the view
of affording them every facility of profiting by our
ministry. Seated on a chest of biscuits, I heard the
soldiers' confessions for six hours : assisting the most
feeble, as well as I was able, encouraging some, in-
structing others, giving counsel to all, and uttering
nothing but words of peace and consolation. Many a
tear of gratitude and love have I seen trickling down
faces bronzed by the sun, and wrinkled by fatigues.
The great majority of the Irish soldiers, constrained by
dire necessity to embrace this career of toil and hard-
ship, had been for many years without an opportunity
of making their peace with God in the tribunal of
confession. My companion aided me zealously in this
work of charity.

I afterwards went to visit the source of the San
Antonio, which springs from the midst of rocks a few

Q 4

88

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

paces from the camp. These rocks are over-hung by
oaks of immense size. The banks of the river are
covered with an ever-green moss5 and tall ferns. The
water is so limpid, that the bottom of the river is
distinctly visible, notwithstanding a depth of from ten
to fifteen feet, and the continual bubbling up of small
globules of air. When I returned to the camp, the
soldiers were drawn up in two lines to receive my bene-
diction. I told them that being obliged to go to
Braunfels, it was quite impossible for me to make a
longer stav amono; them, but that the following morning,
a priest would come to offer up for them the adorable
sacrifice of the Mass, and to deliver to them some
instruction. Besides this, I promised to go to their
new station, and to make a long stay there for the
purpose of instructing those who had not as yet cele-
brated their first communion. An altar was erected
with drums and the doors of the prison, in the middle
of the camp. Next morning an Irish priest arrived, as
I had promised ; and the commandant and soldiers ap-
proached the holy table with feelings of happiness and
tender piety.

My companion and I, having as yet thirty miles to
travel before we could reach Braunfels, we did not wish
to delay for breakfast. Having spoken a few words of
exhortation to the soldiers, we started at a gallop.
Having arrived at an intermitting river called the
Tibolo, I fancied I saw some white figures through the
trees, which immediately disappeared in the depths of
the wood. My companion, too, perceived the same
phantoms, and asked me what they were.

" I suspect they are Indians ! " I replied, somewhat
alarmed.

RENCOUNTER WITH INDIANS.

89

" What a treat to me, who have never seen an Indian !
I should be most happy to see them."

" For my part, I don't at all desire it. You are not
aware that last October, two Germans were murdered
on the very spot on which we now are, on their journey
from Braunfels to San Antonio."

" Bah ! you only say that to terrify me ? What busi-
ness could Indians have here ? "

" To hunt. Game abounds in the neighbourhood of
these watercourses. So let us not be imprudent : when
danger presents itself, whether real or imaginary, we
should try to avoid it. Follow me, and do as I do."

I proceeded slowly, taking care not to stir the
branches of the trees as I went along. Having reached
the river, which was dried up, I discovered a deep
hollow, large enough to conceal our horses. In an
instant we were there — our horses unsaddled and crop-
ping the herbage — and we ourselves reposing at full
length on the green sward.

" By this forced halt," said I to my companion, " we
shall have time to read our Breviary and take a little
rest. It will also allow the Indians to keep ahead of
us, if Indians they be."

" All very good. But meantime we shall die of
hunger and thirst."

" My good friend, a twenty-four hours' fast will not
kill us. This I know by experience. As to the scalp —
why it is quite another thing ; a scalp is really an indi-
gestible affair."

Just as we were about to begin the Divine office,
I saw opposite to me, and hung from a tree, the
bloody skeleton of a deer. No doubt about it, the
Indians had camped on this very spot. Near a tree

90

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

was a heap of white ashes, with the fire still smoulder-
ing in them.

I have remarked that in those countries where deer
abound, the Americans, when they kill an animal, only
remove the legs and shoulders ; the Mexicans take the
whole carcass, except the head ; the Europeans take
the entire carcass, leaving nothing ; while the Indians
eat the flesh, carry off the skin, and leave what then
remains to the wolves and vultures. Thus my fears
were well grounded. It was, nevertheless, comfortable
to reflect that all Indians do not scalp ; besides we were
very hungry, and had a long journey before us.

After a halt of more than an hour and a half, Ave
resumed our journey at an easy pace, to spare the
horses. I was very uneasy, and from time to time
looked back with very unenviable feelings at the sun,
which was rapidly approaching the horizon. My com-
panion suffered terribly from thirst. He never ceased
inquiring whether we should soon come to a stream of
water. To divert our minds from our sufferings and
gloomy forebodings, I made an effort to sing, but the
words died away on my lips ; at length we reached the
long wished-for rivulet ; we heard it bubbling at a few
paces from the path ; but night had already thrown a
thick mantle over surrounding objects. My companion
was about to alight from his horse, but I restrained him.
I had discerned a group of men, stretched at the foot of
a neighbouring tree, some naked, and others partially
covered with white calico. Near them lay bows and
rifles, and at a few yards' distance, their horses were
cropping the grass of the clearing.

" Here are the Indians," said I to my companion ;
" don't alight."

BRAUNFELS.

91

" I must alight," he replied, " I am dying of thirst,"
" Well then go to them," said I, " and ask in Spanish
for some water. In the event of their making a move
towards their guns, I say take to flight at once ; it is
night, and they are on foot, we do not therefore run
much risk."

An Indian was coming from the rivulet with water in
a calabash. My companion went straight to him, and
asked him to allow him to drink. The Indian handed
him the calabash, and my companion enjoyed a most
delicious draught. One of the Indians inquired of me
where we intended camping. I answered at Braunfels.
After a delay of a few minutes, we started off at a
gallop, delighted to have escaped so well. These Indians
were probably either Lipans or Delawares. .

It was eleven o'clock at night when we reached
Braunfels, and the fires of the town were extinguished.
I knocked, at the cabin of an Alsacian, where I was to
remain for the night, and a little boy, with a very
scanty covering indeed, opened it. His parents were
absent, but they were to return next day. We entered,
having previously installed our horses in the outer yard,
with a plentiful supply of maize before them. I asked
for something to eat. There was not a morsel of food
of any kind in the house. My throat was all on fire,
and my lips chapped and bleeding as though it were the
midst of winter. There was no help for it, so having
swallowed some mouthfuls of water, and wrapped myself
in my blanket, I stretched myself on the ground, and
slept most profoundly. My companion did the same.
He left me next day to go to his mission, and I re-
mained two days at Braunfels, very busy indeed.

Braunfels is the most important German colony in

92

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Texas. Its prosperity increases every day, and its
population is above six hundred. A great portion of
the community is Catholic. At some distance from the
town there are other German settlements, but of very
minor importance. Although Braunfels is beautifully
situated for a colony, still the surrounding country is
chiefly remarkable for its agricultural advantages.

Natural curiosities abound in this part of Texas. A
rich German, Herr Claupenbach, possesses magnificent
collections. Although a Protestant, he received me with
great affability; and after showing me his museum, he
conducted me to the source of the Comal, a small river
which runs through the town, and sets in motion the
machinery of its grinding and sawing mills. These
springs are well worth a visit. They burst from the
hill, then dash among rocks into a wood, and furnish a
volume of water not less than four feet in depth and
twenty-five in breadth, very limpid, and of a most
delicious favour. In the dry bed of a torrent, at the
bottom of a deep gorge formed of limestone rocks,
which afford shelter to wild beasts, I saw very curious
crystallisations, and found a large white flint of such
purity and brilliance, that I mistook it for rock-
crystal. I also found a portion of loadstone as large
as a hen's egg. Violet crystallisations which resemble
amethysts, are found on the elevated plateau which
protects Braunfels from the north winds; also beau-
tiful and rare flowers, which brave the most intense
heat. Here, too, is seen a small conical hill, which has
all the characters of a volcanic eruption, and which
bears a very close resemblance to the hill near the camp
of the Leona.

Despite all misadventures these excursions have their

PRAIRIES ON FIRE.

93

interest. I have frequently seen a prairie on fire, a
sight which novelists represent as grand and terrible.
For my own part, I was disappointed in the reality.
Every year the farmers set fire to the dry grass to
destroy insects, and prepare the land for a new crop.
Fire and smoke travel so quickly as completely to remove
from the scene everything of an imposing character.
At night that long and brilliant line of fire which rushes
on so rapidly, is curious to behold, but it never rises
more than a few feet from the earth. Eeptiles easily
escape by hiding themselves in holes. Animals have
been described as terrified by these conflagrations, and
as escaping in the wildest manner, and howling with
dismay. This is at least an exaggeration. I have seen
deer browsing tranquilly within a few yards of the fire,
and then bounding over it when it approached them too
closely. Herds of oxen and horses retire before it with
great composure, and like the deer, leap over it, when
necessary. The burned plains wear a melancholy,
dreary aspect for a fortnight or so, but as soon as a
little rain falls, the grass shoots up through the white
and black cinders, and again clothes the earth as in its
beauteous mantle of spring.

94

TEXAS AND MEXICO,

CHAP. IV,

THE CHOLERA. — SCENES MORE FRIGHTFUL TO BEHOLD THAN EASY

TO DESCRIBE.— ~ A STRONG REMEDY. - — RODRIGUEZ AND HIS SONS.

LYNCH LAW. — QUARREL ABOUT A HEN. — - A FALL HOW THE

LONGEST ROADS ARE SOMETIMES THE BEST AND THE SHORTEST.—

MELANCHOLY, A FISHING PARTY, AND AN AQUATIC EXCURSION.

THE MANIAC OF THE MEDINA. — . A PHANTOM.

This nomade life was ease and tranquillity itself, when
compared with the terrible trials to which the cholera
subjected us. At San Antonio as at Castro ville, the
epidemic made dreadful ravages. My day was spent in
running from one bed to another, and from the church
to the grave-yard. I saw nothing but agony, and death,
and burials; I had hardly time to take my ordinary
meals. Calls were incessant, so that I was constantly
employed in dispensing remedies, as well as in consoling
and praying for the dying. Charles M— — , the young
Frenchman of whom I before spoke, fortunately took
upon himself the task of supporting us by his gun, and
of otherwise providing for our material necessities. I
should not have been able to compass everything, for I
was alone, M. Dubuis not having as yet returned from
his mission in the north and east, where the epidemic
was also doing its work of destruction. I performed the
duties of nurse-tender ; executed the prescriptions of
the doctor, administered potions and frictions; in short,
I was occupied with body and soul at the same time.

THE CHOLERA,

95

I was not always successful in curing the body ; but it
frequently happened that a moribund rising in revolt
against his sufferings, and struggling with violence in
his tortures, has been pacified by my words, listened
to me, and even in the midst of convulsions, which
shook and distorted his countenance, seized my hand
in sign of gratitude and resignation. Then I conveyed
him to the grave-yard, as horrifying a spectacle to
behold as the cholera itself, for wolves and foxes, at-
tracted thither by the odour of the dead bodies, ran-
sacked and violated the tombs.

One day I said to Charles that I should go next
morning to pay a short visit to the cholera-patients of
San Antonio. He therefore resolved to profit by my ab-
sence to hunt panthers ; but next morning I was awaked
at an early hour by a severe pain in my throat ; my
whole neck was swollen ; and two tiny black spots led
me to suppose that I had been stung by a venemous
insect. I was confirmed in this opinion by the presence
of a large tarantula which I discovered on the ground.
Notwithstanding that, I lost no time in washing the
bites with liquid ammoniac, still, when I mounted my
horse, half my body was paralysed. Seeing this, Charles
would not hear of my proceeding alone on my journey,
and so he accompanied me. Now the horse I rode on
the occasion had cost me the sum of fifteen francs, and
even at that price I had been mercilessly cheated. We
took nine hours to go to San Antonio ; and to perforin
the journey even within this time, I was constrained to
ride a part of the way with my face to the animal's
tail, and to belabour him incessantly with a huge
staff. Charles, being similarly armed, aided me in this
laborious task. When I arrived at San Antonio my

96

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

disorder had so increased that I was unable to move a
limb. Having no money to fee a surgeon, I begged of
my companion to make some incisions in my neck with
his penknife. The operation gave me great relief. I
therefore repeated it, and continued cauterising the
wounds with ammoniac until I was completely cured.

San Antonio, which a few days before was so gay, so
crowded with people, and so fall of life, was now silent
as the grave. The streets were deserted, and the church
bells no longer tolled the ordinary ; had they done so,
the tolling would have been continuous night and day.
The parish priest could find no time even to say mass.
One third of the population had fled, and were camped
in the woods, along rivers and watercourses. Another
portion shut themselves up in their cabins, whence arose
cries, and wailings, and supplications to God for mercy ;
while a third part were in the throes and agonies of
death. We met no one in the streets, save those who
were carrying off the dead. Coffins were scarce, and
the dead were in many instances strapped to dried ox-
hides, and thus dragged along, all livid and purple, to
their graves. It happened not unfrequently that one of
those who dragged them along, was suddenly struck
down by the scourge, and after writhing an instant or
two, expired by the side of the corpse. In a short
time the malady pursued the fugitives to the banks of the
rivers, or into the depths of the woods, and these silent
retreats were thus made witnesses of heart-rending
scenes, and horrifying spectacles of men dying alone and
unaided in the midst of the wilderness. For six weeks
did the epidemic rage with undiminished intensity.
The preservation of the parish priest's life during all that
time was something wonderful, if not truly miraculous.

A RENCONTRE.

97

By what means did he succeed in maintaining life for
six weeks without sleep, with an insufficiency of food,
and in the midst of continual fatigue ? The won-
dering population exclaimed : " It is God alone that
sustains him." And they spoke truth. It was his
reward and recompense ; for, of all the ministers of
the various sects then in San Antonio, the good priest
was the only one who braved danger to succour his
people.

The same evening I returned to Castroville upon my
ten-shilling horse. 0 memorable night ! The sun was
already above the horizon when I arrived. Abbe Du-
buis returned next day, having travelled that evening
from San Antonio to Castroville alone and on foot, for
he had not been able to procure a horse. While pro-
ceeding on his journey at a slow pace, on account of
the darkness, and drenched to the skin by the incessant
rain, two horsemen accosted him as to whether they
were in reality on the right road to Castroville, and
whether they were likely to arrive that night.

" Certainly," said the Abbe, " for you are on horse-
back. I myself expect, although on foot, to arrive there
by two o'clock in the morning."

One of the two travellers invited the Abbe to
mount behind him. He accepted the invitation, and
in return offered them the hospitality of our little
house. This was doing them a real service, as there
was no inn at Castroville^ and it being late at night,
no one would open his door to them. These tra-
vellers were Germans of the sect of Ronge, and had
come to purchase oxen to convey their luggage to
California.

It was two o'clock in the morning when Charles and

H

98

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

I were awaked by the Abbe and his two companions..
We at once made a good fire to dry them. Xext
morning one of the Germans went out, the other re-
mained bent over the fire, taciturn, and seeming ill
at ease. His eyes were haggard and cavernous, and
his complexion livid. After breakfast he went out with
Charles, but returned in a short time supported by the
latter and the mason whom I had heard sing, from
my skylight, on the occasion of my first arrival in
San Antonio. His cheeks were sunken, his eves glassy,
his gaze fixed and vacant : he had cholera. I laid him
on my bed, and ran for the doctor.

"Do you feel much pain?" asked the doctor on his
arrival.

" Xo ! " replied the patient, while a cold sweat covered
his whole body.

" He is a dead man/' said the doctor, in a whisper
to me. "I shall order him a potion, you will perforin
the friction,, but all will be useless."

We apprised his friend, who sternly refused to see
him. The Abbe, Charles, and myself succeeded each
other in tending him and watching by his bedside, each
in turn for three hours. In the evening he often in-
quired the hour, and spoke to himself a few incoherent,
unintelligible words ; and at midnight he expired,
The night was dark, the rain fell in torrents, the body
emitted a fetid, intolerable odour ; in vain we burned
paper, powder, and sugar ; all would not do ; we could
stand it no longer, and therefore conveyed the remains
to the schoolroom, placed them in a large box in readi-
ness for the morrow ; and then, notwithstanding the
infected air, we fell asleep, utterly exhausted with fatigue
and want of repose. In the morning the body was re-

RODRIGUEZ AND HIS SONS.

99

moved ; but all three of us felt indisposed ; pains in the
head and stomach, nausea, and cramps were unmistakable
symptoms of the nature of our disease. The doctor lived
too far away to give us timely assistance, so we resolved
on prescribing for ourselves. A glass goblet was ac-
cordingly filled with camphorated alcohol, laudanum, un-
grouncl pepper, and eau-de-cologne ; this mixture was
strained through a thin linen cloth, and then divided into
three equal parts, of which each drank off one. It is not
my intention to recommend this remedy to any person.
As to myself I fancied that I had swallowed burning coals ;
and that my whole body was on fire. A copious perspi-
ration followed ; then sleep, which rendered us motion-
less for twenty-four hours. On waking, we felt greatly
relieved and strengthened ; the new medicine had effected
our cure, and the next day each resumed his ordinary
occupation.

In thanksgiving for our recovery, I offered up the
adorable sacrifice of the mass, and during the service a
choir of Mexicans chanted a slow, monotonous hymn,
but withal harmonious and full of pathos. When I
returned home, the singers, four in number, came to
pay me a visit. They were one Rodriguez and his three
sons who had come to Castroville in search of cattle
wdiich had strayed away from their owners. Rodriguez
is an old man of primitive faith and piety ; and his high
sense of justice and honour is proverbial ; though his
worldly means are small. His twelve stalwart sons
seemed all to be above twenty-five years of age.
When Rodriguez assists at mass he never fails to chant
one of those hymns in a voice full of tenderness and
feeling. At San Antonio, these chants became very
popular, and the voice of the Christian bard was

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100

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

generally accompanied in church by the whole con-
gregation.

Koclriguez had in the neighbourhood of San Antonio,
a farm, which he cultivated with his twelve sons, who
were the best breakers-in of mustangs in those countries.
If a horse, or an ox, or any other animal, went astray,
immediate application was made to Rodriguez and his
sons, and the missing beast was soon forthcoming. They
never claimed any remuneration for the service ren-
dered, but left it quite optional with you whether you
paid them or not : they looked to God for a higher
and better recompense. Like the anchorites of the
Thebaide, every year the sons of Rodriguez spent,
in rotation, some days in the woods in prayer, fasting,
and singing, with the birds, canticles of praise and
thanksgiving to the God of nature. During these days
of retirement they lived on ebony leaves, Barbary figs,
and wild roots. As these twelve men had received con-
firmation from the hands of our good bishop on the
day of my ordination, I thought a short notice of them
deserved a place in my journal.

At length, thanks to God, the cholera gave us a
little breathing time, and though a dreadful scourge,
it rendered us a most unexpected service in freeing
us from the Indians, who had been decimated by it
as mercilessly as we ourselves had been, and who,
perhaps, fancying that the plague had been spread
among them by the whites, made on that account fewer
visits to our country. Up to that time their pre-
sence was a perpetual source of alarm, as they made
numerous victims.

Our cemetery, as I have already mentioned, had no
protection against the wild beasts, which accordingly paid

LYNCH LAW.

101

it frequent visits, so that it presented a most revolting
spectacle, It was situated on a gentle eminence about
an English mile from Castroville. On the route, as
you turned a little to the left, there was a large oak,
near which there is a grave, in connexion with which
there is a story as revolting as the cemetery itself. As
it serves to illustrate the manners of the New World, I
shall relate it.

One evening four men set out on foot from Castro-
ville to San Antonio ; three of them were colonists, and
the fourth, M. Dubuis. The Abbe left his companions
in the plains, where they purposed passing the night,
while he pursued his journey to San Antonio. Next
morning, a dispute arose amongst them, and one of
the colonists was murdered by the other two. The
most guilty was a Swiss Calvinist. Encouraged by
the absence of anything like duly organised judicial
tribunals, he entered Castroville unapprehensive of
consequences ; but the rumour of the crime which
he had perpetrated, had preceded him. As soon
as he arrived, the sheriff, assisted by some drunken
fellows, seized, bound, and condemned him to death
in the very public-house where they had been drinking.
Still, whether it was owing to a feeling of shame, or
with a view of lightening their responsibility as judges
and executioners, by causing the whole population
to share in the act, they sent round a paper with
a view of obtaining influential names as a sanction
of the sentence. In less than half-an-hour the docu-
ment was covered with signatures. The whole popu-
lation then assembled, and the murderer was con-
veyed to the foot of a tree near the cemetery. Along
the way, they asked him if he wished to see his wife

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

and children ; but lie answered " No," and demanded
some whiskey. Arrived at the fatal spot, the butcher,
who was the executioner on the occasion, put the rope
round his neck, and was preparing to hang him, when
the ex-schoolmaster, the sacristan of whom I have
already spoken, arrested his arm, and exhorted the
people to kneel down and pray God for the criminal's
soul; and setting the example himself, the old man
recited in a loud voice five paters and five aves, to
which the crowd responded in accents of deep emotion.
These prayers being recited, the schoolmaster resumed :
." Now let us offer up a prayer to the Blessed Virgin,
that she may intercede with God for the repose of the
soul of this wretched man." To which the latter
replied in a tone of contempt, —

"I'd like to know how the Virgin can serve me at
this moment."

uAh!" says the butcher, "you don't know, don't
you? Well, we'll try to do something for you."
And casting the rope over a branch of the tree, at the
same instant, aided by some men of his own calling, he
launched the wretched man into eternity. The crowd
retired in silence, somewhat affected by this act of
summary justice. I never passed by this tree without
experiencing a shudder of horror at the recollection
of the drama of which it had been the witness.

One night, while I slept profoundly after the fatigues
of the day, I was roused by loud and repeated knocks
at the door. I rose in haste, and having opened the door,
was accosted by a youth of eighteen, and his sister,
who entreated me to come and administer the last sacra-
ment to one of their brothers, who had been murdered
by the eldest son of the family. I said to them :

QUARREL ABOUT A HEN.

103

" But if he is dead, he can have no need of my
ministry."

"lSTo. He is still alive."
"Where do you live?"

" At a rancho (farm), near the San Hyeronimo."

Now the prospect of journeying eighteen miles,
after one o'clock in the morning, through a country
infested with Indians, rattlesnakes, and wild beasts,
was in no wise agreeable ; nevertheless, refusal was
out of the question • go I must. I took the holy
oils for extreme unction, elixir for the wounds, and a
pair of pistols which Charles gave me, saying, " You
will need them, believe me." I did believe him, and
set out.

Two horses were in readiness: one of them had no
bridle, the other was without a saddle. I selected the
horse without the bridle, and set off at a gallop. I
ascertained, as we proceeded, that the two brothers
had quarrelled about a hen, to which each laid claim,
and that the eldest, a maniac, in a paroxysm rushed
on his brother, and felled him to the earth with two
blows of a hatchet. The brother who had been
struck, had lost his right hand the year before, while
shooting; and, two years previously, the maniac had
stabbed himself with a knife in the abdomen. We ar-
rived at the rancho without accident ; and guided by
traces of blood, we entered the cabin where the unfor-
tunate young man lay. He was stretched on a bed,
bathed in his blood, and breathing heavily, with his
forehead bound round with a bloody handkerchief.
I asked him if he knew me. He could not speak,
but made a sign of recognition. Having, therefore,
motioned the others to retire, I heard his confes-

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104

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

sion in the manner usual under such circumstances,
and administered to him the sacrament of extreme
unction.

Two candles, shedding a flickering light through the
cabin, a dying man stretched on a pallet, a priest
praying for him and consoling him, form a very simple
picture, but one which has been frequently repeated
during my life. And still, under the cabin's roof, in
the wilderness, far from the bustle of cities, I have ever
considered this picture as a very sublime one ; it never
failed to make the deepest impression upon me. The
grief of families and friends is frequently selfish, and
always inopportune as regards the man on the brink of
the grave. Religion, his best friend, his consolation and
firmest support, watches over him, and encourages him
on his death-bed, while nature is able to do little more
than suffer and weep. It was thus I regarded things
in this terrible moment, while very often a pressure of
the hand, a look of farewell and gratitude, into which
the dying man threw his entire soul, proved to me the
justness of my convictions.

I had not terminated the sacred unction, when the
fratricide stalked into the room to deal his brother a
determined finishing blow. In an instant I snatched up
a pistol, and levelling it at his breast, ordered him to
retire, which he did with a very bad grace. After the
ceremony, I examined the wound in the head, which
was very large, but not at all difficult to cicatrize, and
dressed it as well as I could. One of the ears had been
cut off. I then raised the handkerchief which covered
the wound on his breast, but, horror-struck, I let it fall
again ; the unfortunate man had received near the
heart a blow of a hatchet, which, after smashing two ribs,

A FALL.

cut one of the lungs in two. The wound was five inches
in length, and at least four in depth. I returned with-
out delay to Castroville, to apprise the doctor ; but he
was absent, and could not attend the wounded man for
at least four days. Six months afterwards, I returned
to the same rancho, and met a man walking in the farm-
yard, pale and tottering in his gait ; I asked his name,
and found it was the same I had anointed, and believed
to have been dead for the last six months. To be sure
he was a German, and had the life of a cat.

But the apostolic journeyings of a missionary do not
always end without accident. Before my arrival at
Castroville, Abbe Dubuis was obliged to go to Dhanis,
to visit the sick, and baptize the children. The Indians
were on his route, and he durst not face the danger
on foot ; hence he mounted a mustang mule, which
determined to unseat him in the middle of the plain.
For a full hour and a half he struggled with all
his might to keep his seat in the midst of brush-
wood and stumps of trees, against which he broke his
spurs and stirrups ; but the mule became every instant
more unmanageable, until, at last, the bridle snapped ;
an instant now was sufficient to hurl him to the
ground. For three days he was obliged to keep his bed,
or rather the blanket which supplied its place. A good
old woman brought him a pillow of maize-leaves, to
soothe his aching head, while the doctor took some ounces
of blood from his arm. Eight days afterwards he was
still suffering from the effects of the fall.

One morning, just having returned from a night
visit after preparing a person for death, a dragoon
rode up to my door to request me to go to the camp
on the Medina to perform the funeral service of one

106

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

of his comrades who had been killed by accident. The
camp was situated about fourteen miles from Castro-
ville, and at a greater distance than the San Hyeronimo.
I again mounted my horse to traverse a part of the
same route which I had passed over only a few hours
before.

The way is very beautiful, but, as I have already said,
is very dangerous on account of the serpents, panthers,
and Indians, who come to hunt in the neighbourhood.
After having crossed the San Hyeronimo and the San
Miguel, which are two small rivulets containing scarcely
any water, I entered into a narrow gorge which runs
between two beautiful wooded hills of graceful and pic-
turesque aspect. This gorge widens by degrees, the
hills retire from each other, and then sweep round a
small prairie planted with old stunted mesquites.
Nature in this district seems to have been expressly
formed for the Ked Skins ; its wild eccentricities of
form and colour seize the heart, and strike the imagi-
nation. I expected every instant to see the savage
figure of an Indian spring from the matted grass or
thick underwood, ready to let fly at me his murderous
arrows.

We diverged from the route at a place where the
ground suddenly sinks, on the verge of the Medina, along
whose banks extended the camp, entirely concealed by
enormous trees. After the funeral ceremony, I visited,
in company with the commandant, and under a strong
escort, the curiosities of the neighbourhood. The princi-
pal of these were a tree and a grotto. The tree was a
giant pine, which, at three yards from the ground,
measured twenty-seven English feet in circumference.
The grotto appeared to me to be an ancient confederation

THE SHORTEST WAY NOT ALWAYS BEST. 107

of numerous republics of bees; for the immense quantity
of honey and wax, which it still contained, was such that
a lance driven almost all its length into it, did not touch
the bottom. This colossal hive appeared to have been
abandoned for a long while.

On my way back to Castroville I resolved to cut right
across the mountains to avoid that long monotonous
plain which I had thrice traversed in less than twelve
hours. I thought too by this means to shorten the length
of my journey. But I soon discovered that the straightest
road is not always the shortest. I crossed at a gallop the
hill which seemed to me of easiest ascent, but all at
once I found myself, as it were, on the first step of a
gigantic terrace formed of little hills of some hundreds
of feet in height. As I rode a mustang horse which
cleared all obstacles like a chamois, I soon reached
the highest point, on an immense plateau overlooking
that chain of mountains which sink gradually as they
approach the Gulf of Mexico, but which towards the
north-west increase gradually in height until they
effect a junction with the Rocky Mountains. Distant
a few miles from this is a small lake difficult of access,
to which troops of mustangs, oxen, and deer come to
drink ; and it is also the favourite resort of the domestic
animals, which have wandered away from their owners,
and which, having reached this lake, never afterwards
leave its vicinity, but become wild.

This plateau was a magnificent observatory ; and the
prospect it commanded, seemed to extend to infinity.
It was covered with flowers, some of which were sur-
passingly beautiful from the brilliance of their colours.
The trees were few and stunted ; for the north wind,
which continually sweeps these summits, prevents luxu-

108

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

riant vegetation ; and such trees as had resisted this
cutting wind were half broken, and bore traces of the
fury of the tempest.

All these hills and mountains which lay between me
and Castro ville were cut up with deep ravines hollowed
out by the tropical rains, and were, for the most part,
impassable, and so dangerous that I was constrained to
ride round them. Thus wasting much time, and worried
to death by these obstacles, I became more and more
impatient and heedless of danger ; so much so that on
many occasions I was nearly rolling down with my
horse into the yawming abysses beneath. My careless-
ness of danger had almost cost me my life. Having to
descend a ravine about a hundred feet in depth, and
fearing lest my horse should fall upon me were I to lead
him by the bridle, I remained in the saddle, and thus
reached the bottom of the precipice uninjured ; but as to
escalading the other side, which rose like a wall before
me, my horse proved himself unequal to the task after
many bootless attempts. Unwilling to remain for ever
in the ravine, I made a last effort, let go the bridle,
and with voice, whip, and spur urged on the horse. The
animal became furious, and started off holding himself
almost quite upright against the perpendicular embank-
ment ; and at the same instant I felt a most intense pain
in the region of the epigastrium : it was the pommel of
the saddle which had driven me a frightful contusion. I
thought I should have died, for the blood was flowing
from my mouth ; yet to prevent myself from falling I
was obliged to cling to the mane of my gallant steed,
which at last surmounted the precipice.

My pains were intense, and I was still a long way
from Castroville ; yet somehow I arrived at last in a

HIGH FLAVOURED PROVISIONS.

109

dying state, and thoroughly penetrated with the con-
viction that the longest roads are often the best.

We were dining one day on our last piece of smoked
pork, which the summer heat had tainted, so that it had
become quite maggoty, and, notwithstanding the cook-
ino\ its colour no less than its flavour was most dis-
gusting. I felt an utter loathing against this decomposed
meat. Abbe Dubuis, with the view of encouraging me,
told me it tasted like ripe pear, while Charles, on the other
hand, produced an empty match-box, which he placed near
his plate with the utmost gravity. I asked him what the
box was for. " To fill it," he replied, " with these little
creatures, which I shall preserve as bait for fishing.'7 I
strove to imitate the stoical indifference of my com-
panions, and enjoy their jokes ; and, cutting my portion
into small bits, I covered them, as was my wont, with
pepper ; then dipping each morsel in vinegar, I swal-
lowed it as best I might, making all kinds of grimaces
the while, to the great amusement of my companions.

There were days when I felt sad — morally prostrate,
if not quite disheartened, and this too although I was
wont to apply for strength at the foot of the crucifix of
our little chapel. Man's natural strength is but limited,
and his trials seem to increase at every step through
life. When in this distressed state of mind, I used to
stretch myself in my hammock, with my face heaven-
ward, contemplating the void ; and thus I would indulge
in reveries at once sad and aimless, while unbidden
tears would start to my eyes, and sighs oppress my
heart, and my gaze would naturally turn towards that
point where the sun rises, for there it was I had left
father-land and all those whom I loved.

At twenty-four the heart is still full of affection, even

110

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

though it be the heart of a missionary. Indeed, it may
be said that the priest in these distant missions has two
individualities, — the one purely spiritual and Christian,
causing him to raise his heart and eyes towards Heaven
to obtain strength, courage, and assistance wherewith
to discharge his laborious and toilsome duties ; the
other all human and weak, rendering his sensibility
to the voice of nature more marked, and making
his heart bound with joy at the sweet names of
country, family, and friends. Although these two in-
dividualities are nothing but the ordinary struggle
between the man and the Christian, still they fail not
to throw one into great lassitude of body and spirit.
Some there are who, seeing nothing to fear in this in-
terior struggle, allow themselves to waver between their
thoughts and their reveries, which are not always with-
out a certain charm, and thus await in all resignation
the end of the storm. Others on the contrary, and
doubtless the more virtuous class, by means of prayer
and strength of purpose, at once put an end to this
contest, which might be a temptation after all. Oh !
how happy are those who pass from their mother's side
to the benches of the schools, and thence to the cell of
the seminary, to enter the priesthood without having
made any halt on the ways of life, and without having
ever seen their little bark carried off by the tempest,
and buffeted by the fierce waves of the world.

I was in one of those days of combat, of vague sadness
and reverie ; Charles perceived it, and in order to cheer
me he showed his match-box full of maggots for bait,
and proposed that we should go on a fishing excursion.
Although I have no more taste for this amusement than
I have for hunting, still I felt very grateful to him for

FISHING AND BOATING EXCURSIONS.

in

his kind intention, and accepted the offer. We started
for the Medina, each provided with a bad line. After
an hour and a half of complete immobility, Charles had
caught an old shoe and a black serpent ; but as for myself
I had taken a kind of tortoise peculiar to those countries,
and a horrid frog with a long tail, which jumped about
on the sand bank of the river. Our amusement waxing
somewhat monotonous, we proposed a boating excursion
on the river. Near where we stood was an old leaky
boat, with but one oar, belonging to an acquaintance
of ours. Charles took the solitary oar to direct the
boat, while my hat served to bail out the water which
came rushing through the chinks and crevices. Thus
equipped we started. In this place the Medina flowed
in a narrow channel under an enormous canopy of trees.
We followed slowly the current of the river, singing as
we glided —

"Vogue, vogue, oh! ma balaucelle," &c.

The boating was really preferable to the fishing
excursion. The Medina gradually widened until at
length it formed a vast oval basin very deep, which the
enormous nut-trees overshadowed with difficulty. The
azure of the sky sparkled through the foliage of the
trees ; on the banks, the long slender stems of the high
grass, and the graceful plumes of the fern, inclined gently
towards the water as if to admire their frail beauty in
nature's mirror ; a light breeze played through the
trees like the distant echo of our song ; the bird of
paradise, the mocking-bird, the cardinal, and the blue
bird seemed by their notes and joyous sports to return
thanks to the Creator for having given them existence ;
grey and red squirrels added to the animation of the

112

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

scene by their restless garabollings ; and happiness seemed
to be distributed through the wilderness with the per-
fume of flowers, and the sweet odour of the atmosphere.

I was happy, my brow serene, and my heart glad-
some. With the grand spectacle of nature — the mighty
phenomena of creation before his eyes — how insignificant
is man ! All this grandeur and majesty awe and dazzle
him, but his faculties seem too limited to contain the
variety of emotions which these sublime tableaux
conjure up. Not so with the chefs-d'oeuvre of the pictu-
resque, which the hand of God has scattered in pro-
fusion over the most isolated portion of the globe.
Man is more at ease, and enjoys with greater relish the
beauties of creation, amid silence and solitude in a
lovely spot of earth, which he looks upon as his own.
These graceful scenes of a rich and poetic nature pro-
duce deep impressions on the heart, and it is impossible
to separate one's-self from them without regret and sad-
ness.

We were gliding very slowly, and our songs were
hushed amid these revellings of the imagination ; but
suddenly the boat received a violent shock, by which I
lost my balance, and I was almost pitched into the
water. My eyes, which had been wandering towards the
dome of foliage above, were quickly lowered to the
boat to discover the cause of the shock. I was alone !
Charles had disappeared, but his hat floated on the
surface. Filled with alarm, I glanced all around, and
at last descried his head, which came to the surface of
the water, a few feet from the boat. Charles, seeing
my alarm, burst into a hearty laugh, inquired how I
liked his plunge, and assured me that the water was
not at all cold. As he could not swim, I cried out

BOATING EXCURSION.

113

to him not to move lest he should fall into some hole ;
and I feared, besides, that the current would draw him
into deep water, in which he would be drowned most
assuredly. Charles, absorbed, as I was myself, by this
enchanting little picture, was standing upright as he
rowed, and an awkward stroke destroying his equili-
brium, he fell into the river, carrying the oar with
him. His position was critical enough ; for with my
hands alone I was obliged to direct the boat, and bring
it over to where he was. Besides, during these reveries,
to which each of us had abandoned himself, I had quite
forgot to bale out the water, which was entering the boat
so rapidly that it was alread}^ half full. Add to this
that the current was bearing us on towards rapids which
were hardly twenty yards distant. I shouted for help.
By a special interposition of Providence, the owner of
the boat was walking within reach of my voice, and hear-
ing me, he ran towards us, doffed his clothes in hot
haste, and threw himself into the river. He swam like
a fish, and in an instant had seized the oar which was
floating down to leeward. I caught it, and directed
the boat towards Charles, who clung to one side, whilst
the owner suspended himself from the other, and I rowed
them to the bank. We were rescued — but a few
minutes later, and we must have been lost.

On the night which followed this misadventure, there
happened a strange scene which deserves to be related.
As was my habit, I was stretched in my hammock,
inhaling with delight the perfumed evening air, while a
swreet and warm breeze played through my hair, and the
stars shone in the heaven with unusual brilliance. I
fell asleep, reflecting that if I enjo}Ted few~ fine days in
Texas I was fully recompensed by the nights, whose

i

114

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

calm, moderate lieat and serenity enchanted and re-
freshed me in a most singular manner after the fatigues
of the day. Towards midnight I was awaked by the
tinklings of the little bell of the chapel, — measured
tinklings, sweet, and silvery. I listened attentively in
great amazement. It could not be the breeze, for it
was so light that it would scarcely have agitated the
leaf of the aspen. Who, then, could be thus ringing
at an hour when all nature reposed and was asleep in
the cabins and in the woods ? Immediately behind me,
in the direction of Abbe Chazelle's grave, I heard, in a
tongue unintelligible to me, a melody full of pathos and
harmony, resembling the slow, solemn modulations of
a religious chant. For a moment I fancied I was
dreaming, and carried to the midnight office of some
Carthusian cloister. The vibration of the little bell,
and the voice, were borne languidly into space by the
zephyr of the night, like the emanation of a sweet per-
fume. These melodious, mysterious accents went to
my heart ; and though convinced that I was quite awake,
I durst not rise lest I should penetrate the mystery.
I enjoyed, as I should delicious fruit, these harmo-
nious, melancholy notes, which found a responsive echo
in my heart. At the end of an hour the chanting
ceased, the bell tinkled no longer, and silence resumed
her sway once more.

The next day a woman from the town came to in-
quire why it was that I performed a night service
at the grave of Abbe Chazelle ? I entreated her to
explain herself. She told me how she had been
awakened by the bell ; how she observed lights on the
grave, and the figure of a man on his knees in the
attitude of prayer. As to the chant, she was at too

THE MANIAC OF THE MEDINA.

115

great a distance to have heard it. The following night,
at the same hour, I was again aroused by the tinkling
of the bell, and the chant only differed from that of the
preceding night in this, that its modulation was sadder
and more solemn. After having listened a long time
to the melody, I decided on finding out who this mys-
terious chanter was, and rising without noise, I quietly
approached the grave, at each of the four corners of
which a wax taper was burning. At the foot of the
cross I clearly discerned the form of a man in a kneel-
ing posture. It was the maniac of the Medina, as he
was called, a colonist of about thirty years of age, whom
the execution of the Swiss had so affected that he lost
his reason. But as his folly was confined to harmless
eccentricities, he was allowed to be at large in the
town, where he walked frequently through the streets,
chanting his lays at every hour, day and night. He
had a very good voice, and his chants were generally
funereal and religious. I approached him, and begged
of him to go home to bed. The poor maniac, with a
sweet smile on his lips, obeyed me without hesitation,
saying, Ya, ya, young Herr Pfarrer (Yes, yes, young
priest). Henceforward the night chants ceased, but I
confess that I often regretted their discontinuance.

Extraordinary scenes were by no means rare in these
countries. There was a colonist who, I think, had com-
mitted murder in Europe ; but though his crime re-
mained hidden from the eyes of justice, his conscience
continually reminded him of it. Every night he fancied
he beheld the ghost of the murdered man standing by
his bed. When he lighted a candle, the ghost disap-
peared. Hoping to rid himself of this constant pursuit
on the part of the ghost, he emigrated to Texas, but

T 2

116

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

in Texas, as in Europe, the ghost returned every night,
and disappeared when a candle was lighted ; and hence
the unfortunate man was at last obliged to have a candle
lighted all night, as thus only could he enjoy a little
rest. "When I passed by his cabin at night, and saw
the light glimmering through the chinks of the reed
wall, I could not refrain from shuddering, and pitying
the wretched being. Doubtless remorse and a disordered
imagination were the sole causes of his vision.

117

CHAP. V.

THE INDIANS. SANTA ANNA. — A TRAGEDY. THE COMANCHES.

THE LIPANS. A GERMAN PRIEST AXD THE RED SKINS. AD-
VENTURES OF A MEXICAN WOMAN. MURDER OF FOUR COLONISTS

BY THE INDIANS. CIVILISATION OF THE INDIANS SHORT REVIEW

OF AMERICAN EDUCATION. EXTREME UNCTION ADMINISTERED

WITH GREASE. CAMP MEETINGS. — PREACHERS IN PETTICOATS.

In the north and west of Texas, the Indians are very
numerous ; and the most savage, as well as the most im-
portant tribe, is that of the Oomanches. It is also
the tribe which is most to be feared, for it is said to
number 40,000 warriors. But who can prove the fact ?
The Apaches and the Navajos come sometimes on hunt-
ing-excursions to Texas, but they remain generally in
New Mexico, in the neighbourhood of Paso-del-Norte
and the State of Sonora. The Lipans, the Cathos, the
Wakos, and the Delawares, are inconsiderable in num-
ber and by no means formidable, There are at the
present day, on the banks of the Eio Grande, round
the gulf and on the east of Texas, some groups of
Manzos (good) Indians, remnants or sections of tribes.

Although the Indians are nomades by nature and
necessity, they have nevertheless establishments where
they sometimes sojourn for a certain period of years.
The warriors in this case spend their time in hunting
as long as the game lasts, and the remaining portion
of the tribe dwell quietly at their encampment, employ-
ins: themselves in domestic concerns, the men doins;
little or nothing, the women waiting on the men and

118

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

doing all the work. During such times they prepare
their arrows from knife -blades and iron-rings, always
pointing them with flint ; and make spears by firmly
binding a sword to a long pole, ornamented with carv-
ings, feathers, and horse hair. It is also during such
resting time, that the skins of deer, buffaloes, and wild
beasts are tanned and made into garments ; and some-
times they even till the ground. When a tribe captures
prisoners, a thing of rare occurrence, the latter culti-
vate the soil, aided by the domestic animals which have
been stolen from the neighbouring towns. The Lipans
encamped a long time near Castroville and the adjacent
colonies. The thousands of bleached skeletons of all
kinds of animals which are met with at every step in
the plains and woods show that game abounded here,
and that the Indians committed dreadful havoc among
them.

At Fredericksburg, the Comanches, the Apaches, the
Lipans, and the other tribes engaged in traffic with the
colonists. They brought horses and the skins of tigers,
panthers, and bears, the skins of the deer, buffalo, and
swan, which they exchanged for brandy, knives, tin,
blankets, Venetian pearls, red stuff, and cast-off gold
lace. In the neighbourhood of the Llano, where
strangers durst not approach for fear of being scalped,
were two Comanch villages, which probably do not exist
at present. These villages were composed of tents
formed of buffalo hides, and ranged in something like
hierarchical order, the chief's tent being in the middle,
and immediately round it the warriors', while the rest
of the tribe formed the periphery. The two chiefs
were, Santa Anna, who died of cholera in 1849, and
Bufalo-Hunt, notorious for his cruelties. These chiefs

PEAK OF THE COMANCHES.

119

were paid a small sum in tobacco and other merchandise,
to secure their o-ood-will towards the settlements on the
Llano and Fredericksburg ; and the consequence was,
that while the other colonies were scourged by the In-
dians, the Llano and Fredericksburg establishments
were not molested in any way whatever.

Near these two camps, a little northward, rises the
Peak of the Comanches, covered over and sparkling
with crystallised quartz, in the form of a colossal sugar-
loaf, which on sunny days blazes like the diamond. This
is a spot chosen by the Indians for devotional purposes :
here they assemble to smoke piously through the hollow
handles of their axes, sending one puff towards the
sun, and another towards the earth, and singing the
while a monotonous, rhythmical chant until a late hour
of the night. When amid the darkness appears the
pale glare of the Indian fires, and when at the same
time these melancholy and solemn notes are borne on
the breeze, mingled with the crackling of leaves and
the distant sound of the torrent, feelings of ineffable
charm spring up in the soul ; and this poetic emotion is
not a little heightened by the possibility, if not by the
actual imminence, of danger.

More to the north still, about fifty miles from the
Llano, are the ruins of San Saba and the silver mines
worked by Comanches, who extract thence ornaments
for themselves and for their horses, as likewise balls for
their rifles. San Saba was once a Spanish mission,
where the Franciscans, who instructed the savages in
religion and agriculture, had a fine church built for
their use ; but during the war of Mexican Independ-
ence, the Comanches murdered the missionaries and
burned their church, the ruins of which they conceal

i 4

120

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

with such care that there is probably no man living,
except themselves, who has ever seen them.

In one of the excursions which Abbe Dubuis made
to Fredericksburg before cholera broke out, he fell in
with about twenty Comanch warriors of athletic build,
very giants in height, who conceived it to be their
duty to riddle the Abbe with arrows. He cried out to
them to desist, telling them that he Avas a captain of
the Great Spirit and Chief of Prayer. Upon this one
of the Indians, who appeared to be the chief, approached
him. The Abbe said to him, " Why do you desire to
do me evil ? Is it not true that Santa Anna is about
going to San Antonio to conclude a treaty of peace
with the Americans ? " To which the Indian replied,
" Santa Anna is too wise to do any such thing. Santa
Anna will not thrust himself into the bear's jaws, to be
crushed like a honeycomb ; he remembers too well
that the pale faces of San Antonio have forked (double)
tongues. He cannot trust in their word ; they are false
as the shaking prairie which engulphs the unwary
hunter." This, no doubt, was an allusion to a bar-
barous scene which occurred, I think, some time before
our arrival in Texas, and which deserves to be men-
tioned.

The Texians believed that they could rid themselves
of the Indians by the extermination of the savage
chieftains. They hoped that the tribes, terror-stricken
by this terrible example, would in future remain quietly
within the limits of their own unexplored hunting
grounds. To compass this object, they hit upon a most
infamous expedient. They invited the chiefs of the
neighbouring tribes to come to San Antonio, for the
purpose of entering into a treaty of peace with them,

A TRAGEDY.

121

in consideration of a large sum which should be paid
them in merchandise; and the Indian chiefs, trusting
to the good faith of the whites, went to San Antonio
without hesitation. More prudent, or probably less
confiding than the others, Santa Anna remained in his
camp without, at the same time communicating his
suspicions to his brother chiefs. When the Indians
arrived they were conducted to a large apartment,
where they were shot down with one solitary exception.
The survivor escaped, axe in hand, and with it cut-
ting a passage for himself through the midst of his
assassins, he took refuge in a deserted cabin, resolved
on selling his life as dearly as he could. Pursued by
the bullets, which whizzed about his ears, he was un-
able to escape ; yet no one durst break in the barricaded
door, behind which the Indian had sheltered himself.
His assailants knew well with what rapidity the Red
Skins fire their arrows, and no one wished to be the
first victim. In this emergency an individual, I know
not of what nation, proposed to smother him with the
fumes of pepper. The proposition was hailed with
acclamation, and accordingly a large quantity of blazing
pepper was thrown through an opening in the roof,
and soon deprived the wretched Indian of life.

Abbe Dubuis then conversed on religious topics with
his interlocutor, who was no other than Santa Anna
himself, whom he had already seen at Fredericksburg.
But whether it was owing to the difficulty of commu-
nicating their thoughts which was felt by each, or to
that reserve so natural to an Indian, the result was that
Abbe Dubuis could glean no satisfactory information as
to the details of their religious belief, and a meeting,
which was so nearly being tragical, terminated soon

122 TEXAS AND MEXICO.

after. Santa Anna was a formidable adversary ; and,
without being at all corpulent, he weighed three hundred
and twenty-three pounds. He was the living image of
a Titan.

Abbe Dubuis was also at Fredericksburg when more
than a thousand Comanches, Lipans, Wakos, and other
tribes assembled there after a hunting excursion. They
entered the town yelling in such a way as to strike
terror into the whole population. Their head-gear was
composed of the heads of animals which they had killed
in the chase. They brought with them thousands of
skins of buffaloes, lions, tigers, bears, deer, and pan-
thers ; and a great number of their wives accompanied
them.

These women, in general, are of a wild and savage
beauty ; their chemise is tanned deer-skin, ornamented
with a fringe of red cloth, tin, and Venetian pearls.
Some of them make a kind of breast-plate with the teeth
of boars and wild beasts, ranged on their breast like
the brandebourgs worn by Hussars. They often take
part in the hunt with their husbands, for the Comanch
is a polygamist, and can espouse as many wives as he
likes, on the one condition alone of giving a horse to
each of them.

An American officer assured me that he had seen an
Indian woman, dressed in the skin of a lion which she
had killed with her own hand — a circumstance which
manifested on her part no less strength than courage,
for the lion of Texas, which has no mane, is a very
large and formidable animal. This woman was always
accompanied by a very singular animal about the size
of a cat, but of the form and appearance of a goat.
Its horns were rose-coloured, its fur was of the finest

THE LIPANS.

123

quality, glossy like silk and white as snow ; but instead
of hoofs this little animal had claws. This officer
offered five hundred francs for it ; and the commandant's
wife, who also spoke of this animal, offered a brilliant
of great value in exchange for it ; but the Indian woman
refused both these offers, and kept her animal, saying
that she knew a wood where they were found in abund-
ance ; and promised, that if she ever returned again,
she would catch others expressly for them.

When the Indians travel with their infant children
they suspend them from their saddles, with a strap of
leather which passes between the legs and under the
arms of the child; but the galloping of the horse shakes
these poor little things dreadfully, and branches of
trees and underwood tear and bruise them. It matters
not, however, as it is a means of inuring them to hard-
ships. While the child is still a suckling, the mother
carries it on her back, wrapped in a blanket ; and when
she gives it the breast, she drags it across her shoulder,
and thus the child sucks with its head down and its heels
up.

In the early days of the colony, Castro ville sometimes
received a visit from the Lipans, who conducted them-
selves in a very orderly manner, no doubt from a
conviction that each of the two hundred huts of the
colony was provided with, at least, forty rounds of ball-
cartridge. Many of them wore medals of devotion,
suspended from their ears, no doubt as a badge of dis-
tinction. They were very fond of little prints, which
they never ceased admiring ; hence the Abbe Dubuis
always kept a stock of them in his Breviary to distribute
among the Indians, in case he fell in with them. At
least sixty Lipans came to Castroville, one Sunday,

124

TEXAS AND MEXICO,

daring high mass, and ranged themselves in front of
the chapel! They seemed delighted with the sacred
music, and made movements corresponding with the
congregation during the celebration of divine service.
A few of them wore, pendant from their ears, curiously-
shaped shells of the most brilliant colours.

One of the Lipan chiefs, named Castro, was far from
being a person of savage character. He had a daughter
of singular beauty, who died soon after completing her
eighteenth year. During her illness she was taken to
the house of the founder of the colony, where she heard
some airs played on the piano. Bewilderment at first
seized her, and she listened with open mouth and a
wild expression of eye to the melody. She then exa-
mined the wood of the instrument with her hand, viewed
it above, underneath, and on all sides, then gave way to
alternate fits of laughter and tears. Never did music
produce such an effect ; every note seemed to electrify
her, and act like magic on her nerves, while it worked
in her the deepest emotions.

It is beyond doubt that the Lipans had once been in-
structed in the truths of Christianity ; for their religious
belief bears its divine impress. They travel less on
horseback than the Comanches. Men and women
journey on foot, and half naked, in their migrations from
place to place. The physical appearance of the tribe
is inferior to that of the Comanches; and they are rob-
bers rather than murderers ; yet they manifest no indis-
position to murder and scalp their victims from time to
time.

An old German priest, an enthusiastic naturalist, who
officiated in Braunfels and the neiahbourino; colonies
at the time, although almost blind, took it into his head

NEW DIVINITY AND THE liED SKINS.

125

to travel on foot from Braunfels to Fredericksburg
for the purpose of collecting scientific curiosities along
the way. He started one fine morning, his only baggage
being a double pair of spectacles stuck on his nose, a
tin box slung from his shoulders, and some provisions.
The first day of his journey his box was filled with rare
plants, and his pockets crammed with mineralogical
specimens, while his hat was covered with insects fas-
tened to it with pins. As he had killed a great many
serpents of large dimensions, he knotted them together
and coiled them round his body. The next day, again,
he killed a rattle- snake, seven or eight feet in length,
which he also wound round his body, and which served
him as a belt. On he went in this most grotesque
attire, never for a moment thinking of the picturesque
and strange effect he must produce on the minds of those
who should meet him. Never relaxing in his search for
some new object to add to his variegated accoutrements,
and keeping his eyes continually on the ground, he was
nearly marching into the midst of a body of Comanches
who were deer- hunting at the time. This walking collec-
tion of plants, insects, and reptiles, which advanced ma-
jestically towards them, so terrified them, that they
fled panic-stricken from it as a supernatural apparition.
The third day our friend the German had consumed all
his provisions, and finding only a little fruit in the woods,
was beginning to feel the cravings of hunger, when he
descried columns of smoke proceeding from a clearing.
He at once turned his steps in that direction. Some Red
Skins had pitched their camp on the spot, but, at the
sight of this strange pedestrian, they began to yell,
and prepared at once for flight. The good priest, who
employed the most significant signs with a view of

126

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

arresting their flight, and tranquillising them, suc-
ceeded in the end in making them understand that he
was dying of hunger. The Indians, not daring to offend
an unknown divinity, tremblingly placed before him
coffee, maize, and some mule's flesh, which he ate with
great avidity, and like a simple mortal. This meal gave
him strength enough to bring him to Fredericksburg,
where he arrived on the third day without accident-
It is related that a Mexican woman of the place,
having entered the woods to gather wild salad, was
borne off by some Red Skins. One of them cut off the
skin round her head to the very bone ; and it only re-
mained, for the accomplishment of the scalping ope-
ration, to remove the skin with the hair attached, when
another Indian interposed, took her as a wife, and con-
ducted her, wounded as she was, to his tent. She resisted
with all her strength the brutal lust of her new husband,
and received such a whipping that her whole body was
marked with bloody stripes. A few days afterwards
the Indian, repulsed as usual by his victim, became
furious by her resistance, armed himself with a hatchet,
and dealt her two blows, one of which cut off a part of
her breast, the other inflicted a deep wound on her leg.
Lifeless, and stretched on a buffalo's hide, she was
attended by an individual at once doctor, magician, and
priest — such as is found in every tribe. This per-
sonage employed, as a remedy, magnetic passes, the juice
of herbs, and superstitious ceremonies. After long and
painful sufferings, the unfortunate creature recovered ;
and her torturer set out again for the chase. Sum-
moning all her strength and courage, she resolved to
fly; and creeping in the night time through the tents,
she mounted a mustang which was feeding in the

A MEXICAN WOMAN'S ADVENTURES.

127

prairie, and started off at full speed in a southerly
direction. An instant after the Indian entered his tent,
either because he had given up the chase, or that it
had occupied a much shorter time than the woman
had calculated upon. Finding the tent empty, and
seeing that one of his horses was missing, he set about
examining the tracks left in the grass and underwood.
Then springing on the fleetest of his mustangs he darted
off with the rapidity of lightning. When the day
dawned he remarked that the tracks were fresh ; and
redoubling the ardour of pursuit, he arrived two hours
afterwards in an extensive prairie, where he descried
the fugitive. The woman heard his whoop as she
galloped along, and looking back and perceiving the
imminence of her danger, she so effectually succeeded by
her voice and the application of her whip in urging on
the horse to increased speed, that she maintained her
distance in advance of the Indian. Thus, closely pur-
sued, she arrived in a plain adjoining Vandenburg ; but
her pursuer was within two hundred yards of her. At
this instant two inhabitants of Castroville entered the
plain from the opposite side. They were armed ; and
seeing the chase, they ran in its direction. The woman
galloped towards them ; but as she came up to them,
horse and rider rolled together on the prairie before
them. The horse was dead ; and the Indian, seeing
the two men, disappeared in the woods ; not, indeed,
that he feared the unequal contest, but from an opinion
which prevails among the Indians that the loss of one
of their people is not compensated by the death of ten
white men. And hence it is that they lie in wait during
the night, and never make an attack but under the most
favourable circumstances, and with vastly superior num-

128

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

bers. The Mexican woman, half dead with terror and
fatigue, was carried into a hut, where she was provided
with clothes, and conveyed to Castroville. After a little
rest, she related to us her adventures, which were well
attested by the dreadful wounds which she had received,
Castroville itself was at one time thrown into a state
of consternation by a fearful tragedy. Four Alsatians
had disappeared: the butcher who had hung the Swiss;
a child eleven years of age who had lived with him ; and
two young colonists who lived with their father near us.
On. Christmas Eve these unfortunate people went to fetch
their cattle, and to cut wood near the San Hyeronimo,
but unguardedly they fell asleep under a tree, and in
this state they were surprised by Indians, who pinned
the two youngest victims to the earth with their arrows.
The two others awoke from their sleep, and being quite
unarmed, made all the resistance they could. How they
fought no one can tell, but the combat must have been
long and obstinate, for in one place we found the broken
blade of a lance ; in another, a lance with its iron twisted,
and the grass trodden down in a most remarkable
manner. The victims had endeavoured, no doubt, to seize
the arms of their enemies, for the hands of each were
cut and hacked in a shocking manner, and their bodies
were riddled with arrows. The butcher had run away,
but he fared even worse than the others. The dead
body of his companion was found twenty yards further
off. The latter evidently tried to escape by flight ; but
an arrow was sent right through his body, piercing
the spinal marrow in its passage. We were not able to
discover the tribe which had committed this frightful
butchery, for the grooves of the arrows were of different
forms. When the Indians go on marauding excursions,

AMERICAN CAMPS.

129

they frequently employ this stratagem to baffle the
whites in their search for the real culprits. Still we
discovered that the assassins were Red Skins by the
number of arrows with undulating grooves of a reddish
colour, and more especially by an outrage quite un-
heard of up to this time in these solitudes. The child's
breast was cut in the shape of a cross, and the heart
was torn out. Was this evidence of cannibalism ? Or
was the heart destined for some superstitious ceremony,
or to enter into some medicinal composition ? No one
could tell. The bodies were placed in coffins, and
transported to Castroville, while the blood, which still
ran from their wounds, oozed through the coffins, and
marked the road with a long streak of red. The
whole population attended the interment, and every one
wept. I myself rarely felt more deeply moved than
when I cast the funereal earth on those unfortunate
creatures, whose lot might be that of each of us
one day or other. Grief, mingled with personal ap-
prehension, spread desolation around these individual
victims of a common calamity.

The American camps were rather a source of gain
to the colonists, than a protection against the Indians,
who, as we have already seen, used frequently to prowl
about these camps, kill a sentinel, and then take to flight,
taking with them horses which they had come to steal,
and generally accomplishing this with the most consum-
mate skill, and without noise. As soon as a murder
or robbery was discovered, the whole garrison turned
out to give chase ; but before the horses were saddled,
provisions packed, and pistols loaded, the perpetrators
were nowhere to be found: and even though the pon-
derous American cavalry might overtake them, there

K

130

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

were no roads ; woods and deep dells were to be tra-
versed ; the Indians had separated, to divide their
tracks, and thus render it a mere chance, an unexpected
rencontre which could bring Indians and soldiers into
mortal combat.

The Indians are, even to the present day, so
numerous, from the Gulf of Mexico to New Britain,
that years must elapse before civilisation and the " fire-
water " will dissipate them, or even render them less
redoubtable. It is only ignorance of their numbers and
the extent of the territory which they occupy, that can
induce a belief that the race is almost extinct. It is
true that European and American emigration is in-
cessantly narrowing these limits along the sides of
the Kocky Mountains and New Mexico ; but ere the
mocassin of the last Red Skin ceases to tread down
the grass of the prairies, thousands of colonists will
be obliged to irrigate those solitudes with their sweat.
Tact and strength avail but little against savages,
for, in tact and strength the North American pale faces
are mere children in comparison with the Red Skins.
The territory occupied by the Indians is covered with
troops of buffaloes, herds of deer, and other animals
which supply them with food ; and it is intersected by
rivers abounding with fish, which they convert to the
best use. Colonisation deprives them every day of a
part of their possession, and consequently, of a part of
their subsistence ; but the real enemy for some is the
strong water, for others, the small-pox, which commit
incredible ravages amongst them.

The civilisation therefore of the Indians is only to be
effected by the introduction among them of the Catholic
religion. The experience of many years on different parts

AMERICAN INTOLERANCE.

131

of the American territory proves this assertion. On the
frontiers, and in the neighbourhood of great colonising
establishments, the attempts at introducing civilisation
among the Red Skins are almost always without success.
The North Americans have abused the confidence, good
faith, and helplessness of the Indians ; they have ill-
used and massacred them without pity on different
occasions, and the Indians ever seek revenge for these
things. In the war of Florida, General Taylor employed
blood -hounds to tear and devour his enemies. The
forked tongue of the "pale faces" is a term which charac-
terises the bad faith of the Yankees in their intercourse
with the Indians. Nearly all the agents who carry on
the fur trade directly with the Indians for the great
Fur Companies, are French, Canadians, or Creoles. In
the fastness of the wilderness, among the tribes who
have had little or no intercourse with the Americans, the
introduction of civilisation is more easy ; religion makes
rapid progress ; the natives of the soil become fervent
Christians ; and although they continue intrepid hunters,
they lose all ferocity of character, and devote themselves
to agricultural pursuits.

In Texas we have not attempted the conversion of
the Red Skins, because, according to the counsel of St.
Paul, "Weil-ordered charity begins at home." Now,
before devoting ourselves to the instruction of the
Indians, our whole care and all our time should be
given to the whites ; and we were too few to occupy
ourselves with two things at the same time. God is,
without doubt, the master of hearts; yet it is probable
that the priest who would go among the Comanches to
convert them, would be scalped in the outset. It is
not always that people have been so fortunate as to

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escape their arrows so happily as we have, thanks
to God.

Castroville was unquestionably a place of commotions ;
even without the aid of Indians, dramas were not rare.
One morning, the wife of a colonist went to gather wild
salad in a neighbouring valley, where I was in the habit
of going every day on the same errand. The woman
never returned ; and her husband, who was obliged
to keep his bed with a broken leg, and consequently
unable to go to look for her, sent his children and
neighbours in search. After an unsuccessful search of
tAventy-four hours, they found the unfortunate woman
lying under a tree quite dead. Her head had been
beaten to atoms and her whole body was covered with
blood. A stone wThich was stained with blood, and to
which adhered a portion of her hair, seemed to be the
instrument of murder. Near the body was the bent
blade of a knife which the victim used for cutting the
salad. We were never able to discover either the cause
of this murder or the murderer. This tragical event
spread consternation among the inhabitants, but they
were soon diverted from their grief by other events no
less striking. At Castroville, individual misfortunes
were ever invested with a public character, and all the
colony sympathised cordially in the grief of those whom
these murders affected more or less directly. Men
and women on these occasions put on their best suits of
black, and the young girls attired themselves in white.
No one absented himself from the funeral; their
prayers were interrupted by their tears ; and, into the
open grave, each threw a handful of earth as a last
adieu.

One evening I was requested by an American to bless

YANKEE PRECOCITY.

133

his union with a Mexican woman who resided in the
neighbourhood of Castroviile. I%iounted my horse, and
two hours afterwards I arrived in the middle of a wood
near the Medina, at a rancho with which I was unac-
quainted. It was night, and the cabin was thronged
with Americans who were preparing to have a dance.
The husband could not speak a word of Spanish, nor
his wife a word of English ; how then had they un-
derstood each other, and decided upon the marriage ?
The Americans approached me, either one by one or in
groups, to interrogate me on religion in general or on
Catholicism in particular.

All travellers have remarked a habit among the
Americans of commencing some religious subject, and
of entering into controversy with a minister, no mat-
ter of what denomination, and this in every place, and
on every occasion, in public, on board a steamer, and
often with the first comer, be he countryman or stranger,
known to them or otherwise. Is this a monomania ? or
a desire to show off, or rather with a view of increasing
their knowledge ? I am strongly inclined to believe
that there is something of all these in it. Besides, they
discuss questions of which they are totally ignorant,
but in such a way as never to appear beaten, jumping
from one question to another whenever they are hard
pressed, and abandoning their half-finished arguments
as soon as they find it troublesome to maintain them.
An American wished to convince me that the Bible had
been fabricated by priests at the fall of the Eoman
empire. This gentleman was not a formidable antago-
nist, but he was very serious. It is useless to think of
convincing them by logic ; no matter what amount of it
you bring to bear upon them, the only thing you can

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obtain from them is an avowal that, " This man plies
his trade very ably." The prejudice which exists
against the Catholic religion is really inexplicable in a
people who vaunt themselves the freest and the most
civilised in the world. In the forests to the west of
the United States are found a number of families of
the Methodist and Presbyterian persuasions, who really
believe that the Catholic priest is an infernal being with
veritable horns on his head. One day the Bishop of
Bufalo was obliged to take off his hat at dinner on
board a steamer, to prove that he had none. On one
occasion, on board a steamer which was ascending
the Mississippi, a Presbyterian lady declaimed fiercely
against Catholicism, venting her rage against its minis-
ters, and all this in a loud voice, so that she was
heard by a Catholic missionary lately arrived from
Europe, and who was sitting at the same table with her.
The missionary had but a very imperfect knowledge of
the English language, and being quite unable to keep
pace with a very tangled discussion, ventured to give
an argument ad Jiominem to the Presbyterian lady.

" Madam," said he, " are you thoroughly acquainted
with Catholicism and its priests, since you do not fear
thus to vilify them ? "

" Certainly not, sir, — and God forbid that I should
ever know anything about this cursed religion of the
papists."

" Well then, that being the case, allow me to say that
you must be a person of a malicious character."

At these words, the old lady started up, flushed with
rage and shame, and thus addressed her interlocutor : —

" Sir, you are supremely insolent to insult thus a
lady with whom you are totally unacquainted."

EARLY DEVOTION TO BUSINESS.

135

" Madam, I have not the most remote idea of insulting
you ; I have only applied to you the argument which
you have hurled against Catholicism and its ministers.
Were I acquainted with you, I should not in all proba-
bility have said the slightest evil of you, for you may be
the most virtuous woman in the world ; you are wrong
in decrying a religion with which you are unacquainted,
and which may be the best in the world after all."

Nine-tenths of the children in the United States
go to school as soon as they can walk, and are con-
sidered as men from that time forth ; and a most ridi-
culous deference and respect is paid to these citizens in
short frocks. They are not commanded to do this or
that, they are respectfully requested to do it. The
common formula on such occasions, is the following :

" My dear sir, will you have the kindness to do this,
or to go there ? " If to the prayer be added a sweet
cake, the young gentleman obeys with an air of impor-
tance, which makes his friend smile. As soon as the
young fellow is able to read, write, and cipher, he
is placed, no matter where, provided the place be a
lucrative one. His father, as a last adieu and counsel,
says to him, " My child, make money ; honestly if
you can, but at all events make money." The
child becomes a man ; his life is spent in travelling
here and there, and in continual traffic ; he chews,
smokes, and drinks on board the steamer incessantly ;
he reads the advertisements in the papers, the elec-
tioneering manifestos, and the names of the candidates.
Such is American education. And hence, to convert
them, it is useless to appeal to the mind, or to de-
pend upon logical reasonings. You must speak to
the heart, and thus, real, efficacious, and sometimes

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easy conquests are obtained. The Bishop of Bufalo,
who, by his experience, learning, and piety, is one of
the most distinguished of the American bishops, said to
me on one occasion, " Remember, for your own direc-
tion, that I never yet effected the conversion of any
one by controversy." It is the heart which speaks to
the heart. Simple, unsophisticated instruction, language
shorn of all ornament, but breathing profound convic-
tion and ardent charity, is what moves and draws to
you the American, by their effect and influence upon
his soul. Brilliant eloquence, sublime discourses, strike
his imagination to be sure, but that is all. They think
only of money, they hear nothing save the sound of
gold ; and yet, when a voice speaks to their heart, and
when the sweet names of country, family, charity,
and the love of God are made to vibrate within them, a
new chord, a music hitherto wholly unknown, full of
harmony, calm, and happiness, astonishes, enchants, and
leads them to the foot of our altars. They begin to
feel an intellectual joy ; they discover that there is
something more beautiful and sweet than commerce and
riches ; they find out that they have a heart and a
soul, and that this heart and this soul have their duties
and their aspirations ; it is a spring which has been
impeded in its action, but not dried up, and which gushes
forth as soon as a pious hand removes the stones which
a life of worldly turmoil has heaped upon it.

The greater part of the Methodist, Presbyterian,
Baptist, and other ministers of Texas, and the west of
the United States, are as ignorant as their disciples.
They embrace this state of life as one would enter on
the grocery business, without any formality whatever.
Some of them have but a very limited knowledge of

EXTREME UNCTION WITH GREASE.

137

their duties and of the Bible, which is their only
guide.

A friend of mine, a missionary priest, administered
extreme unction to a dying man in the presence of a
Methodist minister, who was either a relative or friend
of the sick person. After the ceremony, the minister
approached the priest, and inquired of him why he had
anointed with oil certain parts of the body of the
dying man. The priest replied that it was a precept
of the church, founded on the 14th and 15th verses of the
5th chapter of St. James, who says, " Is any man sick
among you? let him bring in the priests of the church,
and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in
the name of the Lord : and the prayer of faith shall
save the sick : and the Lord shall raise him up : and
if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him." The
minister confessed that he had never read that passage,
and promised that he would avail himself of it at the
first opportunity. And the fact is, that ever afterwards
he imitated the Catholic unction of the dying ; but as
oil was very dear, he usually employed melted grease,
and with this he rubbed the sick person from head to
foot. The Episcopalians and Quakers are better in-
formed, and consequently more tolerant, and less violent
against the Catholics.

Of all the Methodist eccentricities which I witnessed,
the most curious unquestionably was, a camp meeting.
This ludicrous custom leads to very great excesses.
The sectaries assemble in a plain or in a wood, and
generally remain there for three days. Here they form
an encampment, and subsist on the provisions which
they have brought with them from home. Their time
is spent in listening to the sermons of their ministers,

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

in singing psalms, and reciting prayers. Women of a
certain age get into melting moods, weep, and utter
cries of anguish and repentance at the sight of their
sins ; sometimes they imagine that the Holy Ghost de-
scends upon them ; then, in their own words, they are
happy, and impelled by a desire of making their
brethren sharers in their happiness, they mount the
platform, and preach in their turn. Their words
are intermingled with sobs and cries, and the assem-
bly, already disposed to excitement by fasting and
watching, thereby receive most profound impressions.
Among the rigid Methodists, who are styled saints, it is
not unusual to see young girls preach, and with an air
of inspiration and an extraordinary volubility of utter-
ance, deliver the most impassioned discourses, until at
length they fall into paroxysms of nervous excitement,
and into the most frightful convulsions. Among these
fanatical apostles and penitents of the desert are to be
found many young men, who go to the assemblies for
the sake of amusement, and also young females, who
follow their parents there much against their will.
Amidst the ceremonies, and during the night, certain
liaisons are formed, in which morality suffers.

It sometimes happens that comic scenes slightly
modify the gravity of these meetings. One day, a
preacher in petticoats, of a very attractive appearance,
caught the attention of an Irishman, who had been
drawn thither by mere curiosity. He interrupted the fair
preacher by asking her whether she was married. In
an instant her cheeks were suffused with blushes, and
she made no answer. The question, however, being
repeated, she replied angrily, but with an inspired air :
" Yes, I am married to our Lord Jesus Christ." The

CAMP MEETINGS.

139

Irishman retired, with an air of vexation, saying:
"I am greatly afraid, Madam, that you'll never be
admitted into the house of your father-in-law, for you
have been married without his consent." The whole
assembly broke out into a roar of laughter.

Still, in such an assembly it is not prudent to inter-
rupt the preachers by absurd or ridiculous questions.
By so doing you expose yourself to the risk of being
torn to pieces ; and hence these interruptions are very
rare. The American press attempted to brand these
disorders with infamy, and to hold up the Camp Meet-
ings to public ridicule. But it would be a difficult task
to convince these enthusiasts that their assemblies are
more destructive of public morality than useful to
religion.

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

CHAP. VI.

A PROJECT. — A JOURNEY IN THE PRAIRIES. — A NIGHT IN THE

TROPICS. CHIT-CHAT IN THE WOODS LAVACA.— THE FATE OF

A COAT. A J EW IN REALITY BUT NOT SO IN APPEARANCE.

COLLECTE. NATCHEZ. — CREVASSES. A RACE ALONG THE

RIVER JAUNE. RETURN TO TEXAS. A MELANCHOLY DEATH.

— THE FUTURE OF A MISSIONARY. A PROSY VOYAGE. A DINNER

NOT EASY TO EAT. A TERRIBLE NIGHT. A TETE-A-TETE WITH

PANTHERS. ARRIVAL AT SAN ANTONIO.

The Abbe Dubuis and myself conceived a vast and
hazardous project, the realisation of which would have
been beyond our strength and the means at our dis-
posal, had we had less confidence in God and ourselves.
The reader is already aware that our chapel was too
small, and so wretched in every respect, that it neither
protected us against rain, sun, nor serpents. Often,
too, wild beasts took refuge there from the raging
storm. The Abbe and myself conceived the idea of
building a church ; and I made out a plan and drawings,
with minute and complete calculations. The realisation
of this project, difficult as it was on account of our want
of money, was nevertheless a thing of real necessity for
the colony, and likely to add very much to its impor-
tance. We stated our intentions to the colonists, and
thereby awakened their ambition ; but then they were
unable to afford us much assistance save that of their
brawny arms, and the offering of some building materials.
The wealthiest among them promised us a little pecu-

A JOURNEY IN THE PRAIRIES.

141

niary aid. All expenses computed, we found that the
workmanship alone would amount to something about
one hundred and sixty pounds sterling. This sum I
took upon myself to collect, were I even to traverse the
whole extent of the United States for the object.

I recollected some Creole families of Louisiana, and
some other acquaintances of mine in that state. I
calculated on creating a great sensation by my racy
and authentic accounts of a country of which so many
improbable stories had gone abroad, and I hoped to
convert all this into money. My friend Charles, who
purposed establishing a warehouse at Castroville, had
some idea of going to New Orleans to make purchases.
His society would be most agreeable, and would serve
to lessen very materially the rigours of that life which I
should necessarily lead in this pious expedition.

We should travel on horseback without compass
or guide, across vast, uninhabited prairies, with the
very probable risk of losing our way. Many colonists
travelling through the prairies, either in pursuance
of their callings, or in search of their cattle, fail
in finding the way back, and, exhausted with hunger
and thirst, sit down at the foot of a tree, where death
puts an end to their sufferings. Besides this, there was
the danger of being scalped by the Indians; and
we could not reckon upon game for subsistence, so that
we should be obliged to carry large supplies of pro-
visions with us ; and as we could not hope to discover
water every day, I provided myself with a piece of
citric salt, with which to rub my tongue whenever
thirst became insupportable. I was now about to enjoy
the more or less poetic adventures of a nomade life
— a life under tents; and I must confess that from the

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

little previous experience I had had of such a life, the
prospect before me was in no wise cheering.

Of the two horses which we took with us, one was
lent and the other was sold us for twenty-two piastres.
My horse was a fiery animal, and formerly the property
of a Comanche, as was evident from his ears being cut
in the shape of a Y. So, one evening we bade adieu to
the Abbe Dubuis, and set out on our journey, Charles
gay as usual, while my whole attention was engrossed
by the caprices of my indocile steed. We bivouacked
in a chapral of the Leona ; the horses were unsaddled
and tied to mesquites, around which there was rich
pasturage, and their saddles served us as pillows. Having
selected a spot at some distance from the trees where
we should be less exposed to the attacks of tarantulas
and scorpions, enveloped in blankets, we stretched our-
selves on the grass.

It was a lovely night ; and the beauteous tropical
sky shed around us from its millions of stars a pale
sweet light, while not a cloud appeared on the dark pure
blue of that immense gold-spangled dome. A gentle
breeze, bearing with it a cooling freshness, played
through the foliage of the trees, and lulled us to repose
by its whisperings. I had read, in a modern poet,
that it was a pleasant thing to sleep in the bosom of a
tropical night in a warm, perfumed atmosphere, with
the green sward for one's bed, and the starry firmament
for its canopy, plunged in the inebriating influence of
glorious nature, and the enervating enchantment of
dreams. It cannot be denied that the air was mild,
the night lovely, the heavens covered with myriads of
twinkling stars ; but it must be confessed that the
green sward was frightfully hard. Small flint pebbles

A TROPICAL NIGHT'S REPOSE.

143

abounded, and the grass which covered them was not
thick enough to prevent us from feeling their sharp
points. In whatever position I settled myself, it was
equally painful. Much against my will I lay quite
awake, and nowise disposed to dream ; yet the insects
were even more awake than I was, and me they selected
as the theatre of their nocturnal gambollings. On all
sides they discovered passages through which they
made their way under my garments, and rejoiced at
having succeeded in effecting their purpose, they stung
me horribly ; they came and they went, and they halted
to sting me again. Larger animals prowled around
us, and all night our ears were entertained with the
barking of coyotes (foxes) and the caterwaulings of
panthers and tiger-cats. I was aware that these ani-
mals never attack man unless driven to it by hunger,
and, generally speaking, they are shy and timid ; never-
theless they are extremely capricious. Notwithstanding
this apparent timidity, the sound of their voice was
anything but agreeable music to me. It was in vain
that I recalled to mind the proofs and examples of the
harmlessness of their nature ; these proofs, convincing as
they were, did not quite tranquillise me, nor did they
prevent my heart from beating much more quickly than
usual. In short, that nothing might be wanting, the
night dews chilled me, and as we had not lighted a fire,
for fear of the Indians, the damp penetrated me, and I
was seized with incessant shivering. Now, all this
was prosaic with a vengeance; and I fancied that the
poet who had given us such a lively picture of the
sweetness of such a night, must have thought upon it
sitting in his comfortable arm-chair, or sleeping in his
snug bed. Notwithstanding all these discomforts, how-

144

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

ever, Charles slept ; nay, he slept soundly and with the
noise of a high-pressure engine.

We rose with the dawn ; but this time certainly there
was no great merit in our early rising. We set off in
the direction of Lavaca, on the Gulf of Mexico, whence
a steamer was to convey us to Galveston. YvTe forded
the San Antonio, behind the mission of San Jose,
and then traversed a thick chapral which led us to a
wood of mesquites of enormous size. It was only ten
o'clock in the forenoon, and still so oppressive was the
heat, that we were obliged to make a halt. The horses
were unsaddled, the blankets spread under a large tree,
and while I read my breviary, Charles lighted a fire to
while away the time. Although in no wise necessary, a
good fire is so gladdening to the heart of the traveller in
these solitudes, that he need offer no apology for afford-
ing himself this innocent pleasure. We partook of a
repast which might be considered breakfast or dinner ;
it was however a frugal meal, for the heat obliges
even those who might otherwise be inclined to in-
dulge a little, to practise temperance. The repast over,
we lighted our pipes, and, as the smoke ascended in
light clouds, we talked of bygone days, which were to
us but as the tableaux of a pleasant dream, in which,
as in a dreary background, appeared our homestead ;
the old church, where, as children, we used to say our
prayers ; the centenarian lime-trees, which witnessed
our gambols ; the beloved mother, who rocked us to
sleep as she hummed her song of love ; the playmates of
our childhood, — that golden age, when all is happiness,
— sweet reminiscences, yet cruel, as their reflection flung
a crowd of sorrow over the present. Of the future we
spoke but little, — sufficient unto the day is the evil

MISSIONARY TRIALS.

145

thereof, and then the breaking down of health, and the
total exhaustion of my strength contracted my horizon
in a very melancholy way ; to me it appeared oversha-
dowed with dark and angry clouds. I closed my eyes
that I might not look before me, and spoke only of the
passing moment, of that journey which was far from
being agreeable, but which promised variety, and a few
of those unforeseen events which occupy the mind, and
prevent it from thinking. When God, to try a mis-
sionary, abandons him to his own weakness, distraction
is happiness.

Many good Christians in France imagine that God
continually showers down upon us torrents of fortifying
grace, which renders us superhuman, so to speak, and
quite insensible to the sufferings of earth ; they fancy
that at each prayer which either our moral or physical
sufferings carry before His throne, He sends down an
angel to dry up our secret tears, and to fill us with joy
and strength. Alas ! the missionary is as weak as his
fellow men ; like them he suffers, and if God consoles
him, it is not by virtue of a special favour, but in con-
sequence of that infinite goodness which He vouchsafes
to all the humble of heart who throw themselves at His
feet. For us, as for all other Christians, heaven is not
a gift, but a recompense : to obtain it, we must labour
and suffer. If happiness and joy were the missionary's
companions in his apostleship, where would be his merit ?
If our souls were mere novices in the life of trials, if we
ourselves were not drenched in bitterness, how could we
sympathise in the sufferings of others ? How could we
love and console the wretched, if our hearts were callous
and strangers to sentiments of affection ? Each one
makes a priest to his own taste, and criticises him

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146

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

who is not modelled after his ideal ...... Poor

humanity !

About four o'clock in the afternoon, we pursued our
journey. Reaching the neighbourhood of a Mexican
ranchoj we were very thirsty, and asked for some milk.
There was milk in the house, but the farmer's wife had
already mixed it with bran to give it to the pigs.
Such was our thirst, however, that we swallowed some
mouthfuls of the swine's portion. The Cibolo runs
near this ranclio, but its bed is generally dry in this
district. The water runs underground only to reappear
a little farther off.

In the evening we encamped in a prairie, thinly
planted with mesquites. To prevent the insects from
annoying me as they did the night before, I wrapped my
head and ears carefully in a kerchief, rolled myself
in my blanket, and hearing no noise I slept pretty
soundly. On the second day after this, we were com-
pletely knocked up — the trotting of the horses had
broken us down, and still we wished to force our march
with a view of reaching a distant farm where we might
pass the night. From this farm we were separated by
a long prairie without any shade ; the sun fell per-
pendicularly upon our heads ; and the skin of my face
was quite burned, and fell off in large flakes. Towards
evening our horses were knocked up with fatigue.
Mine had completely lost his starting ardour, and
dragged his tottering legs after him with difficulty. We
dismounted to ease our steeds and to hold them up.

We had proceeded on our journey about an hour when
I heard Charles suddenly utter a cry of terror, He was
a few paces in advance, perfectly motionless, and, as it
were, fascinated by an enormous rattlesnake, which

GOLIAD.

147

was rearing and writhing within a few feet of the place
where he stood. More accustomed than my friend
to encounters of this kind, I advanced towards the
monster, cracking my whip as I approached ; and it
glided into the prairie to the right of our route.

I suffered dreadfully from thirst ; but having nothing
wherewith to slake it, I stretched myself on the ground,
and began to suck in the dew-drops which lay on the
leaves but scantily enough. Again I mounted my horse,
with my throat and chest all on fire, — and as my friend
Charles had quite recovered from the fright which his
encounter with the serpent had occasioned, we sum-
moned up all our good humour to shorten the road,
and at length, about midnight, we reached the farm.
A good meal, a roof to shelter us, and a bed, three
excellent things which we were rejoiced to meet with,
did us all imaginable good.

The next day's journey brought us into a more civi-
lised county. The first town on our route was Goliad,
an insignificant place, built by the Americans in the
vicinity of an old Mexican fortification called La Bahia.
La Bahia, which lay along a chain of pleasant hills, had
been thickly peopled ; during the War of Independence,
however, it was made one vast heap of ruins by the
Texians. The country is very fertile ; and maize is every
where cultivated, while magnificent tracts of rich pas-
turage support large herds of fine oxen, horses, and
sheep. We next crossed the Coleto, which runs through
an extensive prairie, and like all the rivers of Texas,
is bordered on each side by trees of great height and
strength, which grow so closely to each other, and are,
besides, so interlaced with the wild vine, ferns, and
underwood, that in some places it is quite impossible

148

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

for either man or beast to force a passage through
them.

In the evening we arrived at Victoria, which promises
soon to be a flourishing town, owing to its favourable
position on the Colorado, which is navigable nearly all the
way from this place to the sea. We remained one night
with the priest of Victoria, Father Fitzgerald, an
athletic young Irishman, of considerable abilities. I had
made the good Father's acquaintance some time before,
at Galveston. As it was only thirty-two miles from
Victoria to Lavaca, and as there was no pasturage in
the neighbourhood of this place, we left our horses at
Victoria, intending to call for them on our return.
Accordingly, we hired a small vehicle from a French-
man, and set out the same evening.

On my way to Lavaca I was struck with the sin-
gular undulations of the plain — a very sea of sand.
The undulations of the land, long, smooth, and uni-
form, resemble (so as almost to deceive one,) the
ebb and flow of the tide. I should be strongly dis-
posed to think that the Gulf of Mexico, in times of old,
had extended to this point, and that its waves had
been transformed into sand at the stroke of a magician's
wand, had I not observed the same phenomenon in the
plain of the Leona, one hundred and fifty leagues from
the sea at Lavaca. There was but one hotel, and a few
wooden houses built along the beach. It is the place
of debarkation for the German families who found our
colonies. Here they are thrown ashore without shelter,
provisions, or means of transport; and, as a natural con-
sequence, numbers of them die of hunger, or perish by
the severity of the climate. The aspect of these few huts
scattered here and there is dreary beyond expression.

ARRIVAL AT GALVESTON.

149

The steamer had not arrived, so we could not proceed
on our journey. Our only amusement in the meantime
was line-fishing, but we could not indulge even in this
agreeable pastime during the scorching heat of the day.
Walking, too, was out of the question, owing to the want
of every kind of shade and protection from the sun. We
resolved, therefore, to sleep during the day, and be up and
stirring during the night; but thousands of mosquitoes,
which we never dreamed of, forced us to change our plan.
One night that I could not sleep, I went to take a swim
in the bay ; but I had scarcely entered the water when
lo ! by the moonlight I saw an enormous shark approach
me. Only imagine howr quickly I scampered out of
the water ! Sharks are both very numerous and very
voracious in the Gulf of Mexico; and thousands of
stories are told of tragic events having occurred along
its shores ; hence I really feared that I, in my turn,
should become the hero of some legend.

At length we put to sea, and in twenty-four hours
arrived at Galveston ; but the good bishop was absent.
My black cotton coat was four years old, and from the
effects of sun and rain it was now all the colours of the
rainbow, — old age and long service had worn it to rags.
My trousers were quite as bad as my coat ; as for
my hat, it had neither shape nor colour. It was quite
clear that I could not proceed to New Orleans in this
plight. Having therefore borrowed a coat from one of
the bishop's people, I brought it to the convent of the
Ursuline ladies to be mended. The good sisters, having
considered the matter attentively, concluded that the
best thing to be done was to put in new sleeves, black
ones, of course, but lo ! when the job was completed the
contrast between the old material and the new was so

L 3

150

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

ludicrously striking, that it was preposterous to attempt
to wear the coat in a civilised country. Misfortune,
however, sometimes brings good in its train ; and so it
turned out with me. My friends of the bishop's house
made a collection among themselves, from the produce
of which they purchased me a coat — a luxury which I
was not at all accustomed to.

We set sail again, and two days afterwards ar-
rived at New Orleans. The great city of the south was
at that time visited with a triple scourge — cholera,
yellow fever, and inundation. The Mississippi had
broken down its banks above the suburb of La Fayette,
and its waters rushed into the streets. Almost every-
where through the city people communicated with each
other in boats — a circumstance which augmented the
labour attendant on my difficult task of collecting
money. To make matters worse, the citizens had
already been solicited for charities on many occasions
a short time before my arrival, and, besides, business
was extremely dull.

The pious and noble-hearted archbishop, when grant-
ing me permission to make a collection, said to me:
" If you succeed in collecting twenty-five piastres, you
could do no better than employ them to defray the ex-
penses of your journey back to Texas." But I had not
made so long a journey to be so quickly discouraged,
and putting all my confidence in God, I began the col-
lection. The first day, an Irish Catholic gave me
twenty piastres ; and the following days the subscription
amounted to about ten piastres daily. A certain tailor, a
Jew, of whom I had bespoken a pair of trowsers, chatted
with me about my mission while taking my measure.
After half-an-hour's conversation, the good man made

BORDERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 151

me a present of an entire suit of clothes, handing me
at the same time five piastres for my future church
— an act of generosity which excited a deep feeling of
gratitude in my heart. Still the collection went on
but slowly, and I was frequently employed in minis-
tering to the spiritual wants of the cholera patients.
I resolved, therefore, to leave New Orleans as soon as
possible.

My first visit was to the little villages along the Mis-
sissippi, as I depended more upon the rich planters
for subscriptions than upon the merchants of the city.
At Donaldsonville, on the right bank of the river, and
twenty-four miles from New Orleans, the parish priest
collected a small sum in a few days, his own offering
being a few sacred vestments. From Donaldsonville I
rode along the banks of the River Fourche, as far as
Thibaudeauville, about thirty miles farther on.

Sugar plantations and fields of maize border the route
in uninterrupted succession, and every now and again you
see noble mansions, some painted white, others green,
all ornamented and covered with creeping plants, tro-
pical flowers, rose trees in full blow, and altheas. In
the background is seen that endless extent of forests
which everywhere stretch along the river banks. On
my way I came upon a crevasse, — one of those open-
ings which the Mississippi and its tributaries effect
in their embankments, and through which their waters
rush, and devastate the plain. Thousands of negroes
were at work up to the waist in mud, striving to
stop up the crevasse with fascines, branches of trees, and
a kind of hemp, made of a parasite plant called barbe
cV Espagnol, which hangs pendant from the trees in long
tendrils. This plant destroys the trees to which it clings

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152

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

by absorbing all their sap. When dried, the natives
use it for stuffing mattresses.

Thibaudeauville is rather a garden than a town, so
embedded and concealed is it by catalpas, magnolias,
plane-trees, and pines. The parish priest, a young
Frenchman, was constructing a large handsome church
at the time. More favoured than ourselves, he had almost
completed his work, while we were in complete uncer-
tainty as to whether we should ever be able to begin
ours. Although all his money was sunk in this grand
undertaking, yet he made me some valuable presents.
A Jewess of rank, who had just purchased a ball-dress,
being made acquainted with the poverty of our mission,
presented it to us as her offering to our contemplated
church. I subsequently converted this dress into two
beautiful white chasubles. Of a certainty, the Jews
are less Jews than we generally believe. Noble example
for Catholics, to see this Jewish lady foregoing all the
pleasures of the ball to aid a Catholic priest in his work
of charity !

I next visited Natchez, a small town built on an ele-
vated plateau, at whose feet the Mississippi rolls on in all
its majestic windings and sinuosities ; and in the distance,
as far as the eye can reach, stretch out the endless mo-
notonous forests of Louisiana. The houses of Natchez
are constructed of brick, and have a melancholy air ;
the streets are wide and at right angles to each other,
and all are bordered with shady trees. The most striking
object is the church, which, although recently con-
structed, has already met with various mishaps. On the
strength of subscriptions guaranteed by the wealthy
townspeople who viewed in the future edifice an em-
bellishment for the town, the church rose rapidly ; un-

THE NATCHEZ TRIBE.

153

fortunately, however, the subscribers only paid part of
their subscriptions, and in the end it was found necessary
to sell it by auction to liquidate the debt. Fortunately,
Father Raho, the Vicar-General, during a tour he made
through Louisiana and Mexico, collected as much money
as repurchased the church, and it was accordingly
restored to divine worship. This example was well
calculated to encourage me. The Bishop of Natchez
was still at Rome, where he was assassinated in 1848 or
1849 ; but the Vicar-General received me with open
arms, for I had known him when he was Rector of the
College of St. Louis. Like Abbe Dubuis, he had a heart
of gold in a body of steel. I was very much attached
to him, and he in turn cherished the kindliest recollection
of me. I visited some Catholic families, from whom I
received alms.

In one of my excursions in the neighbourhood, I fell
in with a miserable remnant of the once famous tribe
of the Natchez. You cannot imagine anything more
wretched or less interesting than their appearance —
not a trace of their past glory remains, if indeed they
were glorious for aught but being sung by Chateau-
briand.

At my departure, the good Father Raho, although
very straitened in circumstances himself, borrowed
money to buy me some shirts and shoes, for I was re-
duced to the direst want of these articles.

I got on board a steamer to descend the river as far
as Baton Rouge; but our boat foundered just as we were
starting, and I escaped by jumping to the bank. Fortu-
nately no one was drowned, and our only inconvenience
was in being obliged to await the arrival of another boat.
It is at Baton Rouge that the legislature of Louisiana

154

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

holds its sessions, in an immense Gotho- American build-
ing, constructed of iron, marble, and granite. Here too
is one of those Penitentiaries of which the Countess
Merlin speaks in her Letters on Havannah, The parish
priest, a Frenchman, — very learned in natural history
and having a splendid collection of plants and animals,
received me very cordially. His learning proved most
useful to the people on many occasions. During my
stay a conflagration broke out in the open plain, and
extended over a large surface. This was looked upon
as the forerunner of a volcanic eruption, and imme-
diate recourse was had to the cure to ask his advice
and counsel. He desired them to bring him a portion
of the inflammable earth, and recognised at once the
presence of phosphorus and ammonia in great quan-
tities. The phenomenon was attributed by him to the
vicinity of a cemetery and a privy, and thus the town
was tranquillised. I preached one Sunday to a small
audience on my mission, and although the planters had
not as yet received the proceeds of their harvest, the
offerings amounted to three or four hundred francs.
The cure himself contributed some handsome ornaments
for the altar ; and at my departure I invoked the bene-
diction of Heaven upon this charitable town.

I crossed the Mississippi to go to West-Baton Kouge,
and on my way I came upon another very broad crevasse.
These crevasses form in many instances deep and dan-
gerous marshes. Will it be believed, that the crevasse of
which I am now speaking was attributed to crabs ? No
doubt, crabs are in myriads in this spot ; still, the
more I compare the cause with the effect, the more
I am at a loss to explain the mystery. Here is the
explanation given me by a young Creole, who was

OPJGIN OF CREVASSES.

155

with me at the time : the crabs make tubular holes in
the earth, which, when prolonged, pierce the embank-
ment. Through the hole thus formed, a small quantity
of water issues, which the pressure of the river in-
creases at every instant. Should two of the holes be
in juxtaposition, the water by degrees wears away the
earth between them, and in a short time throws them
both into one; and the volume of water being thus
increased, enlarges its narrow channel, rushes into other
crab holes until at length the bank is completely
destroyed, and out rushes a river which inundates the
plain. During the day negroes are employed in de-
stroying the nests of crabs, and hence these occurrences
happen ordinarily during the night. But the crevasse
in question w^as so broad and deep, that they were
obliged to wait for the waters of the river to diminish
before they could repair it. We could not cross it
on horseback, so we took a boat, and I went to the
house of my young Creole, where the family received
me with great politeness and cordiality, and subse-
quently, by their offerings, increased the sum which
I had already collected.

The sum total of the collection amounted to 200
piast res, and I had no reason what ever to complain of the
success of my enterprise ; but now a variety of circum-
stances prevented me from pursuing it. The parish
priest of Donaldsonville, when I arrived on the 4th of
July, (the anniversary of the United States' Indepen-
dence,) had been invited by his parishioners to deliver
a discourse, befitting that solemn occasion. As this
was a high compliment conferred on him, he accepted
it with due acknowledgments, and was therefore bound
to fulfil the engagement ; but at the very moment he was

158

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

repairing to the meeting, he was summoned in all haste
to administer the last Sacraments to the cholera
patients, who were in a dying state at the Yellow
River. Now, his discourse would occupy two hours at
least, and hence the impossibility of going that day to the
Yellow River, a distance of thirty-five miles ; for it was
near five o'clock in the evening : still the poor people
could not be abandoned, accordingly, the parish priest
asked me to go in his place, a request I could not think
of refusing. It was the rainy season, and as the roads,
with which I was totally unacquainted, were converted
into quagmires, the cure lent me his favourite horse,
Zephyr, an animal fleet as the wind, and ready to clear
any inclosure-wall when the gate was shut. My guide
was a negro, and my companion an artilleryman of the
national guard.

About five o'clock in the evening we crossed the
Mississippi in a boat which landed us on a kind of bank,
from which the water had receded very recently.
Being first on land, I was waiting until my com-
panions had all left the boat, and until the boatman
had received his fare, when the artilleryman cried out
to me, " Into your saddle in an instant, and ply your
spurs, or you are a lost man." Without paying any at-
tention to the matter, I perceived that the horse and
myself were sinking fast in the moving sand, and were
already embedded in it up to the knees. After a long
struggle I succeeded at last in liberating myself and
mounting Zephyr, who, after a few powerful plunges,
saved me and himself from all danger.

The rain fell in torrents, and my military friend,
with a view, no doubt, of saving his uniform, took
refuge in a neighbouring house, whilst the negro and

A STORM.

157

myself pursued our journey along a muddy road,
bounded on the left by the earthen wall which in-
dicated the course of the Mississippi, but concealed its
waters from our view, and having dreary plantations
and uncultivated fields in uninterrupted succession on
the right. Night was approaching, and my guide
advised me to quicken my pace, for we had still two
crevasses before us. " More crevasses ! " cried I, sorely
annoyed at the announcement. I neither minded fatigue
nor dangers, but for crevasses I had a deep aversion, and
I resolved never to live in Louisiana, afflicted as it was
by this scourge, which fertilises the country every year,
but which involves several planters in utter ruin.
Aided by bright moonlight we crossed the crevasses;
in some places the horses sank in the mud up to the
saddle-girths ; in others, they were obliged to swim and
breast a strong current.

Having overcome all these obstacles, we turned to the
right, into the interior of the country, and now struck
upon a better road across a thick forest. Though I was
wet to the skin, and covered with mud, yet I listened
with delight to the voice of the tempest, which was
raging around us. The howling of the wind through the
leaves, the crashing of trees, the noise of the branches,
as they were dashing against each other, the terrific
thunder-claps which followed in rapid succession —
the outbursts of Nature's wrath — in short, to all this
I hearkened with delight. Huge clouds rushed over
the moon ; at intervals she would show herself and
fling before our affrighted horses the shadows of the
mighty trees which skirted the way. Still we gal-
loped on.

Having crossed an immense marsh formed by the

158

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

late rains, we knocked at a cabin -door, having reached
our destination. An old woman, who opened the door,
offered rne a cup of coffee to warm me ; but it was after
midnight, and although half dead from fatigue and hun-
ger, I was obliged to remain fasting as I had to celebrate
the Holy Mysteries in the morning. My clothes and
shoes were covered with a thick coating of mud, as were
also my hands and face. In this plight I could not
present myself before any company, and what remained
of the night would have afforded me barely sufficient
time to make some change in my person and dress.
Still I could hardly keep my eyes open, so sleepy was
I ; and, in truth, I had need of sleep to forget my
hunger. But how was I to meet all these necessities ?
The following plan struck me as best, and I adopted
it. I procured a barrel full of water, into which I
plunged myself, clothes and all; and, armed with a brush
I scrubbed myself from head to foot for half-an-hour ;
then I took off my clothes, hung them before the fire,
and went to bed. Next morning I rose early to pre-
pare the sick for the reception of the Sacraments, which
could not be administered until after Mass. I put on
my clothes, which were far from being dry ; and the
damp cold of them made me shiver all over. Still I
could delay no longer, as I was actually fainting from
inanition. After Mass I baptised a great number of
young negroes. At length, about mid-day, I was
enabled to take some refreshment ; but I was so weak
that I had neither the strength nor the desire to eat ;
I merely swallowed a cup of coffee, and returned to
Donaldsonville, without having seen any trace of the
Yellow River, and without having ascertained who it
was that gave that name to a few wretched cabins.

RETURN TO TEXAS.

159

Next day I returned to New Orleans, bringing with
me several boxes of linen and church ornaments ; but I
began to be afflicted with rheumatic pains, which
stiffened my limbs, and tortured me at every movement.
Oh how full of thorns are the roses of the Mission !
Two letters awaited me at New Orleans — one from a
young countryman of mine, the Abbe Chanrion, whom
a broken constitution obliged to retire from the labours
of the Mission. He announced to me his approaching
end, and begged the assistance of my prayers. The poor
fellow died a month afterwards, at New Orleans, after
a lingering illness, and after having maintained here
below, as long as he could, and in the midst of sufferings,
the breath of worthless life. The other letter was from
Abbe Dubuis, who pressed me to return as quickly as
possible to Castroville, where the cholera having broken
out with increased intensity, overwhelmed him with
labour. He himself had just recovered from another at-
tack, thanks to our famous specific. I at once suspended
the work of begging, and made my preparations for the
journey without losing a moment, to fly to the succour
of my beloved confrere. Having packed vases of flowers,
linen, church ornaments, and presents of all sorts, I
embarked for Galveston, where Charles joined me.

We landed at Indian Point, a small town built on a
tongue of sand, in the bay of Matagorda. Three-fourths
of its inhabitants are German. We expected to find a
new conveyance to Castroville more easily than at
Lavaca. A bargain was no sooner concluded with a
German than I wrote to Father Fitzgerald, of Victoria, to
say that we should soon be with him, and to pray him
to have our horses in readiness. We soon started again
on our journey, in a vehicle drawn by two strong mules.

160

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

As we passed through the plain of Lavaca, under a
broiling sun (it was the beginning of August), we per-
ceived a small tilbury dashing towards us at a furious
rate. The driver, a negro, pulled up as soon as we met,
and asked me was I Father Domenech ?

" Yes," I replied.

" Then," said he, " drive on as fast as you can, for
Father Fitzgerald is dying at Victoria."

" Dying !" said I. " Why, what' has happened ?"

"He had been doing missionary duty at Corpus Christi,
on the Gulf of Mexico," replied the man ; " the rains
wetted him through and through — and he returned
home ill — and this morning he sent me for you, to re-
ceive the last Sacrament at your hands."

I threw myself into the tilbury, which set off again at
the same speed. I saw an enormous panther on the
side of the road ; it could not have measured less than
five feet from head to tail. Our horse, in his onward
career, only snorted twice or thrice at the presence of
the monster, and dashed forward, without shying either
to the right or left. When we arrived at the house
where Father Fitzgerald lived, and which belonged to
one of his own countrymen, we met the master at the
door, who said to us in his own French : il est morn —
meaning to convey that the poor priest was dead.
Without stopping to inquire into his meaning, I entered
the room, and called him by name — but there was no re-
sponse. His eyes were fixed. I kissed him. His lips were
icy cold. He was dead. He was only twenty-six years
of age, far from his country and his family and friends,
without even the consolations of religion to fortify him
at his departure hence* Contemplating this youthful
victim of Christian charity, my heart was ready to break;

MISSIONARY ISOLATION.

161

I fell upon my knees and wept, for I could not pray.
I deeply regretted that no friendly voice was there to
assuage the sufferings of his last moments, or speak to
him of that heaven which he had so justly merited.

The contemplation of this isolation — this dreary soli-
tude in which the poor missionary breathed his last —
cast my soul into deep sorrow. Poor Abbe ! his grave
will be unknown in a foreign land : never will the spot
where he lies be hallowed by a friendly visit : no prayer
will bless it : nor will it be ever watered by a tear.

Oh ! who shall tell of all that passes in the heart of a
young missionary, from the day he receives his mother's
parting kiss to the day he heaves his last sigh in distant
solitude ! On my knees, at the foot of that bed whereon
the lifeless corpse was stretched, that life of devotedness,
of labour, fatigue, and trial, unfolded itself before me as
a vast and gloomy panorama, and all ended in death,
sudden, unexpected, and solitary. .Notwithstanding the
sad end of my poor friend, I envied his lot ; in his
case there were no doubts about the future, for he died
in the midst of labour. Then reflecting on myself, I
bethought me of my shattered constitution and lost
strength. I was not so old as Father Fitzgerald, but
yet I was quite spent. Like Abbe Chanrion I looked
upon myself as a useless being who, in a short time,
would be less a burden to others than to myself.

The life of a disabled missionary, when strength has
been exhausted in the fatigues of his ministry, is a truly
sad one, humanly speaking. It is painful to him to
drag out an existence of dependent idleness on the
theatre of his former labours, in the midst of his
poor and hard-working colleagues. The hospital, and
misery in every shape, await him in his own country.

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162

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Whilst lie is engaged in preaching the truths of the
Gospel, and civilising the people of distant countries, his
friends either die or are dispersed here and there —
friendships are weakened or become altogether extinct
— he becomes in turn a stranger in his own country, but
too happy if local or private charity places him in some
sinecure, or shelters him from unrelieved necessities of
life, where close by his cradle he may await the end of
his career, drenched with gall and hidden sufferings.
The priest who devotes himself to the foreign missions
may say with truth, as his Divine Master : My Kingdom
is not of this world. He knows that for him there are
other thorns than those found in the wild woods, and
other sorrows than those experienced on the desert
shore. But God who takes the solitary sparrow and the
lily of the field under his special protection, bestows on
those who have confidence in Him something more
precious than the bread they earn by the sweat of their
brow— He bestows upon them faith, hope, and charity ;
and where these Divine virtues exist there is no
poverty, no solicitude about the morrow. Animated
and strengthened by these, the Christian is enabled to
brave all the tempests that rage around him.

Kneeling by the corpse of my departed colleague, I
saw that such would be my future lot ; I felt that I was
not worthy to die for the glorious cause which I had
espoused, and my tears fell in abundance. But a ray of
Heaven's light revealed to me the sufferings of the Son of
God in the garden of Gethsemane; and, like all rays
from heaven, it brought peace and resignation to my
soul. All fear left me, and I was prepared to make any
sacrifices. I offered up fervent prayers for my poor
friend, and spent the entire night alone with his corpse.

PLEASANT TRAVELLING.

163

The next day, aided by a French priest, who came to
Victoria, we buried our young fellow-labourer in the
little church. The ceremony was simple and touching.
Protestants and Catholics shed tears — a tribute of
esteem which our departed friend had earned by bis
virtues.

I left Victoria in very depressed spirits. The weather
was dark and rainy ; and we were supplied with pro-
visions for three days only. As the rains were likely to
continue, we thought it well to lessen the number of our
nights under tents, so we changed our route by taking
a more northerly direction. As one of the horses which
we had left at Victoria, in the care of Father Fitzgerald,
had either strayed away, or was stolen, I mounted the
remaining one, and Charles rode in the cart. From
town to town we changed places, Charles taking my
place in the saddle, and I his in the cart. As the roads
were becoming heavier as we proceeded, owing to the
incessant rain, the mules dragged our cumbrous vehicle
through the mud at a very slow pace and with great
difficulty. From the first day of our journey I was
frozen under my wet garments, and a part of my body
had become quite stiff with rheumatism.

Thus we struggled on for five days; at one time
battling against the inclemency of the weather; at
another against the obstructions of the road. We
were not able to spend even one night in a human
habitation ; for the state of the roads had upset all
our previous calculations by retarding our progress.
By dint of management we made our provisions last
an additional day, yet we had already been fasting
for twenty-four hours ! We encamped under our cart,
but the rain came down in torrents through the holes

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164

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

and chinks in the wood. While cold and want of rest
began to throw me into fever, my fellow-traveller en-
joyed a sound sleep, without thinking of either hunger or
rain. There are people whose accommodating organisa-
tion adapts itself easily to every circumstance — sleep
comes at their bidding, and they dispense with food, if
necessary, without appearing at all disconcerted by the
exigencies of nature.

At length, on the fifth day, on the right of our route,
we arrived at a small river which struggles through
a deep ravine. I think it is the Cibolo. On the
opposite side was a farm-house, where we hoped to be
able to procure a dinner. While the German was
unyoking his mules, Charles and I descended the ravine,
stumbling at every step. Having succeeded in reaching
the bottom, we saw a place where the river was covered
with pieces of dead timber and trees, which floated on the
surface ; at every other spot it rushed down in cascades,
as the torrents descend the Alps. Pressed by hunger,
I made a spring, and running quickly along one of the
floating planks, I gained the opposide side. My friend
Charles proceeded more slowly, either through laziness,
or because he was not so active as I was. The conse-
quence was, that the pieces of timber sinking, and turn-
ing under his feet, he lost his balance, and fell down
astride of one of them. However, he succeeded at last in
joining me, though wet from head to foot by the sudden
plunge to which he treated himself. " Oh ! " said he,
laughing, " a little more or a little less can't make
much difference." During this dreary journey, my
friend never lost that buoyancy of spirits which charac-
terises Frenchmen, even in the most critical circum-
stances of life.

FRESH DELIGHTS.

165

A good dinner, and a blazing fire, made us forget all
oar hardships, and we resumed our journey. The rain
ceased for a short time. We had no idea whatever, that
our sixth day's journey would be even more disastrous
than the preceding. On this day we were obliged to
cross a deep creek full of black muddy water. My horse
sank in it up to the girths ; but, weakened as he was
by fatigue, he had no strength left to extricate himself.
Accordingly I was obliged to enter the pool, and drag
the poor animal out with all my strength. It fared
even worse with the cart, which sank so deeply in the
mud, that the mules abandoning the task of pulling it
through, lay down as quietly as possible in the pool,
leaving little hope on our minds that we should be able
to induce them to resume their work. While the driver
plied his whip, Charles and I shoved at the wheels, but
all in vain ; so there was nothing for it but to go in
search of some farm-house where we might find help in
our emergency. Fortunately, we met some Mexicans of
the locality, who kindly came to our aid with a team of
oxen. These being yoked to the mules' traces suc-
ceeded in dragging them, and the cart along with them, to
firm ground. The rain, which had ceased a short time,
now fell without intermission; my horse stumbled or
slipped at every step ; and the continual efforts I was
obliged to make to keep him from falling fatigued me
dreadfully. Besides, the roads became more imprac-
ticable every moment, so that the cart wheels sank to
the axles in mud in some places.

We had hoped that all our mishaps were now over,
and that we could find at length some convenient spot
on which to camp for the last time. As misfortune,
however, would have it, night came upon us in the

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166

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

midst of the woods. The croaking of frogs indicated the
vicinity of water ; and we found that a clearing had
been transformed into a lake by the late rains ; along
its borders the herbage was rich and abundant, so we
allowed our animals to roam about and regale them-
selves. But where were we to spend the night ? The
road was inundated, the cart was deep in water, and
it was quite impossible to penetrate into the wood, so
thick were the borders and underwood. To find a
convenient spot to camp on, it would be necessary to
cross this sheet of water; but we were in complete
ignorance of its depth. Accordingly, without more to
do, our driver rolled himself up in his blanket, and
stretched himself at full length on the boxes in the cart,
while Charles and myself seated ourselves on our saddles,
with our backs to a tree, and our feet in the water, and
thus passed the night. A more terrific storm than we
had heretofore experienced, now burst over us ; the
thunder rolled without intermission ; flashes of lightning
darted every instant through the heavens, while the
forest around us was swept by a hurricane. I leave
the reader to imagine whether I could close an eye ;
want of sleep, cold, and hunger had again brought on
fever. I shivered with cold, and yet a violent per-
spiration covered my whole body ; my pulse beat with
fearful rapidity ; strange noises buzzed in my ears ; a
vomiting of blood reduced me to the last extremity.
In fact, I could bear it no longer.

'; Charles," said I to my companion, who was half
asleep, " if I remain here longer I shall never be able to
leave it ; I'll continue my journey."

" It would be madness to do any such thing," said my
friend, opening one eye; "you are unacquainted with

THE FEVER AND THE STORM.

167

the roads, and you would most certainly lose your
way."

" Oh ! " said I, " I have nothing worse to fear than
what I suffer at this moment."

Charles fell asleep again, whilst I saddled my horse,
which was in almost as miserable a plight as his master.
It was about one o'clock in the morning; and to escape
the mud as much as possible, I kept to the right through
the wood, but I had not proceeded far when it opened out
into a prairie covered with high grass and helianthus,
which struck against my face as I proceeded. Still on-
ward I went, without at all reflecting upon the fault I
had committed in leaving the beaten path ; indeed I
thought I was skirting it, until my face and hands were
torn by the trees and brushwood which I was obliged
to encounter in forcing a passage. After many painful
efforts, I arrived at last at a thick copse wood, and here
I was brought to a stand-still. I could not move ano-
ther step. I sought, on every side, some outlet or other,
but with no success — the forked lightning, my only
guide, indicated no egress. Darkness, the terrific storm,
and illness made my head reel ; a certain dimness came
over my eyes, a burning heat ran through my body,
while the surface of my skin was icy cold, and all this
was accompanied by a most disagreeable buzzing noise
in my head. The storm continued to rage, the thun-
der pealed with undiminished fury, the wind swept
forest and plain, and there was I amid the storms of
nature and my own being, alone, without a guide, with-
out an adviser, yea, without strength to escape the tomb
which yawned beneath my steps. All energy, both
moral and physical, had left me. I felt that my end

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168

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

was approaching. No human power could afford me
any aid.

After having exhausted all the resources of human
courage, intelligence, and will, to rescue myself from this
terrible position, I addressed myself to God in humble
prayer. I cast my eyes towards heaven with one of
those last looks in which the whole soul seems to speak.
This mute prayer was to me like the sweet dew which
falls on a burning atmosphere,— something indescribably
soothing pervaded my whole being, and I felt convinced
that God watched over me with a fostering care, and
that if He, in His wisdom, subjected me to trials it was
only to teach me to place less confidence in my own
strength, and attach myself more closely to Him. A
smile of sweet consolation played about my lips, and I
prayed with a tender and child-like fervour that the
will of God be accomplished with respect to me, and I
knew well that He would not suffer me to perish thus
all alone in the woods. Full of confidence in the
Divine goodness, I allowed my horse to go where he
would. The poor animal went to the left, passed
instinctively through the underwood, and came out
on the prairie. The reflection of a flash of lightning
showed me the route now laid under water. After that
I had no desire to turn aside from the beaten track, but
rode through waves of mud with perfect composure.
In a short time the route became somewhat more ele-
vated, and I traversed a wood of oaks. I felt that my
horse had found a dry and solid footing, and notwith-
standing the fever which preyed upon me, I enjoyed a
moment of happiness. But, alas ! how quickly it passed,

It appeared to me that my horse was listening to
something; he pricked up his ears, and became uneasy

TIGERS IN THE BUSH.

169

and restive, he snorted violently, and at last reared,
and refused to advance. I was unable to distinguish
any object in the dark, and still I was satisfied that the
poor animal was not thrown into this state of terror
without some cause. I drew one of my pistols from
the holster, and struck my spurs into the horse to urge
him forward. A frightful mewing then was heard, and
two phosphoric lights blazed at twenty paces from me ;
the mystery was at once solved ; it was a tiger or pan-
ther, or, perchance, a number of these animals which
surrounded me, for my head reeled so that I fancied
that burning eye-balls were fixed on me from every
side. I had but a brace of pistols ; and to wound one of
these animals would have been attended with too much
clanger, to kill it would be impossible, owing to the
darkness and the unsteadiness of my aim; I therefore dis-
charged my pistol in the air. My horse, maddened
with terror, became quite unmanageable and started off
at full speed. I kept well in my saddle. The panthers
slunk away to a short distance at the report of the
pistol, but they soon returned to within a few feet of
the route. From all this I concluded, whilst galloping
along, that their dens had been inundated, and that I
was in danger every instant of tumbling into some
creek. The croaking of frogs, which was becoming
more distinct as I proceeded, left no doubt on my mind
as to the fact. In a few minutes I heard the splashing
of water about the horse's legs, and I felt the cold
seizing first my feet, and then running up my limbs at
every stride. At last the horse sank in the water up to
his breast, stopped suddenly, and, after that, neither
words, nor blows, nor spurs affected him in the least.
He seemed changed into marble,

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

I waited an instant, until a flash of lightning showed
me where I was. By its rapid light I saw before me
a lake formed by the rains. Xo weeds floated on its
surface, which proved to me that it was so deep that
it would be sheer madness to attempt to cross it during
the night. I accordingly retraced my steps, but not
daring to return to the wood, on account of the wild
beasts, I dismounted, and leaning my back against a
tree, with the water up to my knees, and holding my
pistols in my hand, I faced the panthers, which had
again returned. I was resolved to sell my life as dearly
as possible ; however, the panthers contented themselves
with making a circuit around me, without approaching
too near. Their howling all the time was most appalling.
My poor horse was so terror-stricken that, although he
was not tied, he remained motionless by my side the
whole night. The electric fluid fell with a dreadful
crash, within fifteen yards of me. It formed, as it were,
a shower of sparks, which set fire to the scanty herbage
of the forest. The conflagration spread ; I feared, an
instant, that it would dislodge me from my position, and
then roast me. Fortunately the rain came to my aid,
and extinguished it.

At length, this terrible night gave way before the
sweet light of the dawn, which came to restore me to
life, and to fling its feeble rays around me. My courage
and buoyancy of spirits returned. I crossed the lake,
which was a mile long — it was a good hour's work. At
every step my horse slipped, or stuck fast in the mud,
or stumbled and staggered like a drunken man. It was
no wonder that I should have heaved a long sigh of
satisfaction when the poor beast once set his foot on firm
ground. The rain ceased, the sun seemed as if it

A SENSITIVE HORSE.

171

had some idea of showing itself, the wind dispersed the
clouds, — sun and wind dried my wet clothes. The
route was very picturesque : on each side rose graceful
hills, whose summits were crowned with white vapour.
Thousands of partridges whizzed by me in their rapid
flight ; herds of deer stood to look at me as 1 passed,
shaking off the while the rain-drops which glistened on
their backs. All this gladdened me. Here and there I
had to cross small streams of water, but I had no reason
to complain. At length the sun appeared, and with
him heat, which I so much needed. My hands were as
blanched and as wrinkled as the skin of a body which
had been three days in the water.

Towards ten o'clock in the forenoon, we arrived at a
small river which was quite unknown to me. I thought
it was, probably, one of those streams which had been
formed by the late rains, and dashed into it in the
most gallant manner — indeed, I held it rather in con-
tempt. Now the horses of that country are gifted with
an instinct of most astonishing acuteness in discovering
danger, and indeed my poor beast was but too suscep-
tible, and since our journey began, became sensitive
to a most distressing degree. As soon as the water
reached the saddle-girths he stopped, and refused obsti-
nately to advance. I employed prayers and entreaties,
I patted him on the neck and encouraged hirn in every
way, — at length I used the whip, but without result.
I dismounted at last, and led the poor beast by the
bridle. After advancing a few steps, I perceived some
nenuphar leaves on the surface of the water, but it never
occurred to me that the stems of these leaves might be
five or six feet long, and I proceeded boldly into the
water with my clothes on. At the first step I was up

172

TEXAS A2sD MEXICO.

to the middle in water — a debut which frightened me
not a little, and I made accordingly a retrograde move.
I again mounted my horse, and attempted a passage in
other places ; but with no success — my horse would
not move a step, as soon as the water reached his breast.

This last obstacle, which I knew not how to surmount,
and which ■ nevertheless, must be surmounted in one way
or other, threw me quite into despair, although it was
far from being the most difficult one I had met with.
But it is the last drop which overflows the cup, and my
courage completely abandoned me. Ingrate that I was,
I dared complain and speak thus to the Almighty :
" 0 my God ! this continual suffering is too much for
me — my powers of endurance are limited — my trials
without end. I have now paid, in devotedness, all I
owe to humanity. I shall return to France, to leave it
no more." I wept like a child that has some whim un-
sratified. The next instant I smiled at the abundance
of this bitter chalice, which I could not exhaust, and
this little attack of folly soon passed. I stretched my-
self on the grass to dry my clothes. Then resuming all
my former energy, I mounted my horse and directed
my steps towards the Cibolo.

After an hour's ride, I overtook a cart, and what
was my astonishment at recognising our driver and
Charles fast asleep on the boxes ! I really fancied
that I had come from another world, and so overjoyed
was I at meeting my friends, that I at once roused
them up to embrace them.

" In the name of wonder where are you going ? "
says Charles.

" To France, I believe," said I, despondingly. " Out
upon you! " replied my friend, " What an idea ! "

A MERRY UPSET.

173

I then related to them all that had happened to me
since I left them.

" There is no creek in this neighbourhood," said our
driver ; "it must be some deep ditch or other, which I
shall find no difficulty in passing." " We shall soon see."

And forgetting France, I crept upon the cart to ac-
company them in ascertaining the fact. Having reached
the fatal spot, our brave German undressed, entered the
water up to his arm-pits, and reached the opposite bank
without accident. Confounded and humbled, I ex-
claimed against my horse's sensitiveness, and my own
want of patience. Then we all crossed with little diffi-
culty. My poor foundered horse was tied to the back
of the cart, and my fellow-travellers resumed their sleep,
which had been interrupted for the moment, and I tried
to imitate them. In an instant or two, I was suddenly
roused from my slumber by a terrific shock, which sent
men, beasts, and boxes, rolling one over the other.

The fact was, that we tumbled down a ravine which
crossed the road, but, in our drowsiness, we had not
perceived it. By a special intervention of Providence
we all escaped unhurt. This little incident amused us
very much, and we all three laughed heartily at an
adventure which kept us awake the rest of the day.

About three o'clock in the afternoon, the crowing
of a cock announced the vicinity of a farm ; and in a
few minutes afterwards we descried, through thick
foliage of mesquites and oaks, a small house, round
which oxen, cows, and sheep were lying. We entered,
and a tall meagre woman asked us what we wanted.

" A dinner, if at all possible," I replied, " for we are
dying of hunger,"

" You shall have some in half-an-hour," said the

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

good woman, "but in the meantime you may go into
the next room, and while away the time at the piano."

" Many thanks, Madam, but at this moment my
teeth have far greater need of something to do than my
fingers ; with your permission, I will amuse myself in
grooming my horse a little."

And then I began to rack my brain in trying to account
for the presence of a piano in this spot. The dinner soon
made its appearance, and was devoured in an instant.
Having settled accounts with the good woman of the
house, I saddled my horse, and set off again alone. I had
hardly left the farm when a torrent of rain wetted me to
the skin ; however, I took all in good part, as I was now
very near the end of my journey. As I crossed the
Salado, I thought I perceived on my route three In-
dians, who seemed resolved to oppose my passage. Now
I had seen too many alarming objects for the last
twenty-four hours to be easily terrified ; so I passed on
without flinching. The Indians were three enormous
trunks of charred trees, surrounded by a reddish her-
bage, and my sickly imagination represented them as
so many giants, with black, red, and yellow stripes. At
length, I heard the bells of San Fernando ringing the
Angelus ; I was at San Antonio, and therefore proceeded
in all haste to the cure's house.

The good man gave me a glass of Alicante, which I
drank off at once, and having wrapt a triple blanket
around me, I fell into a profound sleep which lasted
twenty-six hours. I awoke at last, but it was bed-time
for every one else. Having chatted a little with the
cure, I lay down again, and slept more soundly than
ever.

175

CHAP. YIT.

ASSASSINATIONS AT SAN ANTONIO. — THE BANGERS. A PARTY OP

PLEASURE. A THREAT NOT FOLLOWED UP. TOO MANY GOURDS,

AND NOT SUFFICIENT FOOD. — A WINTER NIGHT. CHRISTMAS EYE.

HOW TO BUILD A FINE CHURCH AT A CHEAP RATE. — AN EASY

YICTORY. DEPARTURE FROM C ASTRO YILLE. — MY FAREWELL.

A FRIEND TURNED ENEMY. A PEDESTRIAN JOURNEY THROUGH

THE PRAIRIES. ARRIVAL IN FRANCE.

The next day I went to Castroville, and on my way I
met one of my parishioners who was assassinated a few
minutes after we parted, and the assassin stole his horse,
which was not worth forty piastres. San Antonio was
notorious for assassinations ; the knives of the Mexicans
and the American revolvers were in constant use ; and
deeds of bloodshed were of hourly occurrence. One
day a half- drunken cavalier, armed to the teeth, entered
a bar-room to drink a glass of brandy ; the waiter asked
if he had money to pay for it, at which the other took
offence and levelled his revolver to fire at him ; but
the pistol missed fire, and the waiter seized an enormous
knife, sprung on the cavalier, and laid his breast open
with two ghastly wounds. He then placed the corpse
of the murdered man on his horse, and turned it from
the door. On another occasion a Presbyterian, on feel-
ing a strong impulse to kill somebody or anybody, went
to the house of his own minister, and fired at him twice,
but fortunately the bullets only grazed his hat. As I
was going to say Mass one morning, a Mexican who was
sweeping at the threshold of his house, inadvertently

17G

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

whisked the dust upon an American who was walking
by. The American drew his knife, threw himself upon
the poor defenceless sweeper, and gave him seventeen
severe wounds in the head and shoulders. Such acts
were of almost daily occurrence.

The greater part of the murders were committed by
the Hangers — volunteers of the American army who
were disbanded after the treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo,
and had engaged themselves to Texas for the pursuit of
the Indians. They are the very dregs of society, and
the most degraded of human creatures.

These blood-thirsty men, who have neither faith nor
moral feeling, massacred a whole division of the Lipan
tribe, who were quietly encamped near Castro ville : they
slew all, neither woman nor child was spared. They
rifled the dead bodies of their clothing, in which half
the assassins clothed themselves, and then amused
themselves by a sham battle.

A colonist, who was out in search of his cattle, heard
the report of their fire-arms, saw the mimic fight from
a distance, and mistook it for a real attack of the
Indians. The inhabitants of Castroville armed them-
selves ; sent out patrols night and day, and barricaded
the town ; but not until two days after did they
ascertain the truth. The Eangers having become the
scourge of the colonists were replaced by regular troops
in 1850. It is true these troops were always insuffi-
cient in number to protect the country, but the moral
effect of their presence was nevertheless beneficial.
Their camp was generally composed of one company of
dragoons and one of infantry. These companies were
each supposed to number sixty men, but at times there
were not six to serve under each flag. The bad

A BURLESQUE REVIEW.

177

treatment which the soldiers received caused them to
desert, and take with them arms and baggage.

The head quarters of the Texian army was San An-
tonio, where I once saw a review on the Grande Place,
in which poles were erected at intervals to regulate the
movements. The band was composed of twelve per-
formers ; the officers and staff were eight in number ;
and the rank and file amounted to four men, of whom
one was a Serjeant. The absurdity of holding such a
review was pointed out to the general in command, and
he has since abstained from any exhibition of the kind.
In some camps there was a total absence of cavalry ;
hence if it was found necessary to pursue the Indians
they put their infantry soldiers on horseback ; but the
greater number of them had the utmost difficulty in
keeping in the saddle, and were totally unable to use
their weapons while on horseback.

On the banks of the Rio Grande, the Indians were
once nearly taking prisoners a whole company of mounted
infantry (as they are called). To go always well armed
was certainly the surest protection for the colonists.
I found a letter from the Abbe Dubuis at Castroville,
in which he begged me to rejoin him at Braunfels,
where he was building (or constructing) a church of
wood. I gave the house in charge to Charles, and re-
turned to San Antonio, where I had left my horse. To
avoid the delavs and accidents of walking I took the
poste, which was on this line a tolerably good vehicle,
and to my great surprise I arrived at Braunfels without
accident.

I spent three days with my fellow-labourer, whom I
aided in his work, while each related to the other
what he had done while separated; and we mutually

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178

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

formed plans for the speedy erection of our future
church.

On the third day the abbe came to me with a beam-
ing face to say that he was about to procure for me a
real party of pleasure : " It is," said he, " an excellent
opportunity of returning to San Antonio without costing
us a centime." I blindly accepted the offer without
asking him further particulars as to this agreeable and
economical arrangement. We had wound up all our
ecclesiastical business at Braunfels by five o'clock in the
evening, when the Abbe Dubuis told me he had still two
baptisms to administer at a cabin on the road to San
Antonio, three miles from Braunfels, but that he would
go there on foot and rejoin us as we passed. I was to
go with an Alsacian family, who had a cart loaded
with fowls; hence I was to be borne along with the
chickens, &c. The Abbe Dubuis started first, and a
little before sunset I saw the cart arrive; it was a
wretched vehicle all disjointed, and dragged along by
a miserable horse so emaciated that he was scarcely able
to keep on his legs. This sight made me regret the cre-
dulity with which I had accepted the pleasant arrange-
ment which the abbe had made for me. I found this
opportunity very miserable, and regretted that I had not
taken the poste ; but it was then too late, so I got on the
cart with what resignation I could. The road was bad,
having been torn up by the heavy rains and hardened
suddenly by the rays of a scorching sun. The ruts had
become hard as stone, so that each step of the horse
caused a horrible jolt and rendered it quite unbearable ;
so I got down and walked. When we came to a hollow
both horse and cart stuck fast in the mud, and we were
also obliged to get into it to pull them out. The wife
pulled the horse, while the wheels were pushed by her

OPPORTUNE TRAVELLING.

179

husband, the Alsacian, and myself. When this feat was
accomplished I was in such a state of filth, that it would
have taken a second tun of water to cleanse me. I con-
tinued my walk, grumbling against the abbe's pleasant
opportunities, which I made a promise no more to em-
brace. The abbe, having administered the baptisms, set
out without waiting for us. At midnight I perceived
two objects resembling dead bodies lying across the
road. "Who goes there?" I cried out in English.
"A friend," responded the abbe's well-known voice.
"Well," I asked, "what are you doing stretched there?"
" I was sleeping while waiting for you." " I thank you
very much for the pleasant journey which you pro-
cured me. I have been obliged to come on foot, the
wretched jaded horse not being able to draw me and
the fowls along ; that is what you call a party of plea-
sure." While listening to my complaints the abbe
shouted with laughter, so I followed his example, as I
could not get really angry. He had with him a German
of immense stature, who was awaked by the noise of the
cart. The horse was unyoked and we encamped. The
Alsacian gave us a supper of cold meat, after which we
fell asleep upon the ground, without any bed-covering.
The next day we halted for breakfast at the Cibolo ;
whence the abbe, the German, and I, afterwards continued
our journey on foot. It was then the end of August, and
the heat was so excessive, that we perspired from every
pore. It was about mid-day when we arrived at San An-
tonio ; and I was foot-sore, besides being worn out with
fatigue. The Abbe Dubuis came to me an hour after
to say that he had found another opportunity of going to
Castroville free of expense ; and that he recommended
me to embrace it with him. I thanked him warmly,

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

knowing how to appreciate what he called parties
of pleasure, and merely said that having a horse at
my command I should set out as soon as I had
rested a little. At five o'clock I commenced my
solitary journey, a little annoyed at having again to
travel by night : but on account of our school I did
not wish to be absent from Castroville when the Abbe
Dubuis was not there ; so that I scarcely slept at San
Antonio. I was overtaken in the plain by my con-
frere, who was in a fine carriage drawn by magnificent
horses: he passed me like lightning, making a sign to
me to keep up with him. I galloped fast to keep
up ; and we arrived at the creek of the Leona in a
few minutes. There was a European doctor with the
abbe in the carriage, and a planter from Vandenberg,
who resembled Don Quixote de la Mancha, both in
character and appearance. We all four supped at the
water's edge ; and afterwards the doctor returned with
his carriage to San Antonio, while the abbe and the
planter watched the arrival of an Alsacian, who was to
pass with a cart drawn by oxen. The Alsacian arrived :
his cart was loaded with chests and sacks of Indian corn,
and the abbe and the planter seated themselves thereon ;
but I accompanied them on horseback. At nightfall
they unyoked the oxen to let them graze ; and we slept
till midnight, after a slight repast of water-melons and
cheese. When we recommenced our journey, on the
invitation of the abbe\ I took a place beside my com-
panions on a chest of soap, while the bridle of my
horse was tied to the back of the cart, which was
made of two trees fastened upon two axles. The chests
and sacks were heaped upon each other without any
care, so that I not only found it difficult to find a com-

A PLEASANT TRIP.

181

fortable seat, but even one that was endurable — nothing
but sharp angles striking me in every direction, and
nearly breaking my limbs at every jolt ; besides, I
felt that my right leg was exposed to much too cold a
temperature. " Why there are currents of air blowing
through this vehicle," said I to the abbe. " No wonder,"
he replied, " for it has no bottom." I stooped down to
discover whence this unusual cold proceeded, when a
splash of water dashed in my face. The enigma was
solved. There was a barrel of water near me which
had been fastened up with straw, which had slipped
out, and each jolt sent a little shower-bath over my leg.
Finally we arrived at Castroville. And on the first
Sunday after our return, we called together the colonists
after mass, to make them promise to bring the materials
necessary for the construction of a church, and to
engage on our part to commence the work as soon as
the wood and stone should arrive.

It was summer, and the colonists were still engaged get-
ting in their crops, so that they could not attend much
to the stones for the church. The Abbe Dubuis profited
by this season of forced inactivity to go to Gonzales, a
little town of the interior where one of our colleagues
resided, to enjoy a few days' rest, of which he was much
in need, but which he could never obtain at Castroville,
where he was unceasingly beset by the inhabitants.
While awaiting his return I resumed my ordinary
occupations ; that is to say, the teaching of the children
of the school, and the administration of the sacraments
in all the colonies of the mission ; eating pumpkins
fourteen times a week, in default of other food ; never
allowing myself to be discouraged by the trials and
hardships of a precarious and wandering life ; doing my

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

duty with zeal, but without enthusiasm ; and accepting
with pleasure the good or ill that it pleased Divine
Providence to send me. During the absence of my
confrere I was placed in one of those painful and em-
barrassing positions in which the priest, in conformity
with ecclesiastical discipline, is obliged to show the
severity of the judge, when he would wish to show the
indulgence of a friend. Thank God, I got out of it pretty
well. A rich colonist of the Greek Church wished to
have his child baptized in the Roman Catholic faith ; but
the god-father and god-mother being Protestants, I had
no security that the child would be brought up and
educated a Catholic. I told the parents that without
this assurance I could not baptize the child, and that
either the god-father or god-mother must be a Roman
Catholic. The father replied that with his gun he would
force me to baptize his child. This answer was not
likely to alter my resolution ; it would besides have been
against my duty to have yielded to such coercion, and
caused a great scandal, for my flock would certainly
have attributed any relaxation of ecclesiastical dis-
cipline, had I had the weakness to make it, to the high
social position of the parents. I therefore took no
notice of the threat, and went next day to Dhanis to
celebrate a marriage. I travelled in company with a
Swiss merchant, for whom I had a great regard, though
he was a Protestant. He was going to the camp on
business, and as I could serve his interests there, he
offered me a place in his vehicle. When we had arrived
at the wood of Yandenberg, we saw galloping after us
the sheriff, who was no other than the god-father whom I
had refused on the preceding evening. He also was going
to Dhanis, and wished to make the journey with us for

OUR LAST MISERIES.

183

further security. To prove to him that the strictness
of my duty had nothing to do with persons beyond my
ministry, I offered him my hand, which he accepted,
and we all three breakfasted on the provisions which
we had brought with us. At the camp 1 had the good
fortune to be useful to my companions, and we went to
Dhanis together for the celebration of the marriage.
The sheriff was one of the witnesses.

Unfortunately the intended bridegroom had forgotten
to get the civil licence at Castroville, without which a
priest or minister could not celebrate a marriage save
at the risk of a fine of five hundred piastres, besides
imprisonment. Not to put myself in the power of the
law I refused to perform the marriage until the parties
should have procured the licence. The young couple
and their relatives were very much grieved at this delay.
The sheriff then begged of me to perform the marriage
ceremony, promising at the same time that he would
take out the licence immediately on his arrival at Cas-
troville and bring it to me himself. I consented to this
arrangement, but not without impressing upon the
sheriff that I thus gave a proof of great confidence in
his sincerity and good faith. He felt gratified by this
confidence, and was ever after my devoted friend. On
his return the Abbe Dubuis found Charles and myself
in a state of complete destitution ; our parishioners had
not become more generous, we had eaten our last
morsel of bacon, and since this sad meal we were
entirely reduced to Indian corn and coffee. One day
when I had nothing but a few eggs I went to the
woods for a faggot to cook them, and knocked at door
after door asking for a little butter to dress them and
some meal to make a little bread. I was refused in the

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politest manner possible ; and on that day it was only
after repeated visits that I obtained something to eat
through the compassion of a kind old woman. The
pumpkins of our garden were always our greatest
resource. We dressed this insipid vegetable with all
kinds of sauces, and used many ingenious expedients
to try, if possible, to give it some flavour, but it had
become so repugnant to us that it was only with a
great effort that we could eat it at all. I had in my
hands the money which had been collected for the con-
struction of the church, but it was a sacred deposit
which no one had a right to touch.

The Abbe Dubuis wished to put an end to this miser-
able state of things, and after the sermon on the follow-
ing Sunday he addressed the faithful, reminding them
of the good which we had done to the colony both
materially and morally. — "We teach seventy-two of
your children, and yet you give nothing, not even for
their books, which we often furnish gratis. We are about
to build a church which will cost you scarcely anything,
thanks to our collections, and still you leave us to die of
hunger. Call to mind that on one occasion I was not
able to preach because I had had no food for forty-
eight hours ; and that my first colleague, the Abbe
Chazelle, died of want still more than of grief. Thus,
since we are made up of bones and flesh and cannot
exist without food, we give you warning that to-mor-
row we shall quit this colony to seek a residence where
more consideration will be shown for us, if from this
day forward you do not provide us with the means of
living for each mouth (and in advance), whether in
money or in kind, and a half piastre over and above
for each pupil attending the school— (the children of

THREATENED DEPARTURE.

185

widows and of the poor we except from this rule). If
the first instalment is not paid in before this evening,
to-morrow you will no longer see us." The flock was
ashamed of its avarice ; a collection was made on the
spot ; and from that day forth we suffered no more from
hunger. The winter came, that is to say the time to
build a church ; the materials commenced to arrive, but
only slowly, and they were not accumulated in sufficient
quantity till after the feast of Christmas. Wishing to give
this solemn festival still more brilliance than to Easter,
I went to San Antonio to procure some cloths to orna-
ment our little temporary church, and returned to
Castroville the same evening. The night was so dark
that I could scarcely see my horse's head ; a close and
sleety rain fell, which rendered the road slippery and
dangerous ; and my cloak was stiffened with a thick layer
of sleet. I suffered terribly from this unusual cold.
My hands, which were purple, could no longer hold the
bridle, and I let my horse take his own course. The
time that I was in the chapral appeared so long that I
thought I had lost my way, and had I not had the fear of
being frozen to death I should have waited the dawn of
day under some of the trees. Calling to mind that the
colonists had set out an hour before me with a cart full
of provisions, I concluded that they had probably en-
camped on the plain of the Leona, and that I should
soon see their fires if I had not lost my way. I soon
perceived their fires and advanced, and in order to warm
myself I commenced to chew tobacco. It was but too
effective, for I became hot and feverish with headache and
giddiness accompanied by a kind of vertigo. At the
expiration of an hour I saw a fire upon the horizon ; it
seemed to advance by describing a circle, and to approach

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

me gradually. For a moment I thought it was le cheval
de la mort of the Indians, the poetic superstition of old
America; then it occurred to me that it must be the fire
in the encampment of the colonists, and that my vertigo
gave it a circular motion. Literally speaking, when the
fire appeared to stop I was no further from it than ten
steps. Being then sure that I had not gone astray I ex-
changed salutations with my parishioners and continued
on my way. I heard the wolves howling near me in the
plain of Castroville: my horse being terrified I made
him gallop ; but the howlings came nearer and nearer,
while the darkness prevented me from observing the num-
ber of the animals by which we were thus pursued. At
last I arrived at home and promised solemnly to travel no
more by night. But unfortunately we were seldom able
to choose our own hours. The church was on this occasion
ornamented with unusual splendour, thanks to the gifts
which I had received in Louisiana. The colonists were
struck with astonishment and regretted that our new
church was not yet constructed. As I was to sing the
midnight mass on Christmas Eve I went early to bed to
get over the effect of my night journey, but I was awaked
at eleven o'clock by the harmonious voices of a choir of
young men who sang a German Christmas hymn in
compliment to me, for the 25th of December was my
birthday. I rose to thank them, but they had already
disappeared. The temperature had become milder ; it
was a starlight night, and our little cottage was filled
with colonists who came to congratulate us, bringing us
at the same time cakes and pork. In the midst of the
hearty gaiety which was about me, I could scarcely
shake off a vague sadness by which I was oppressed.
Already had four years passed away since this fete had

ELECTRIFIED AND STIFLED.

187

been a family festival ; and my imagination bore me back
to other times when friends and parental caresses were
not absent at this holy season. Alas ! life seems to be
but a perpetual farewell to men and things.

I shook off these obtrusive thoughts as a cum-
brous garment, and proceeded to the church, where I
had prepared a treat for my parishioners. While
dressing, and without being seen by any one, I lighted
a flame of red Bengal fire, which was concealed behind
a basket of flowers. I had on a vestment of cloth of
gold, and at the moment when I gave out the Te
Deum the flame suddenly illuminated the church like
an Aurora Borealis ; the gold, the crystals, the chan-
deliers, the hangings, the flowers, wrere all dazzling. The
congregation seemed electrified ; the sacred hymn was
chaunted with redoubled zeal and energy ; but the
proverb says, " there's no fire without smoke," and that
had not entered into my calculation. With the flame
rose clouds of smoke, which soon nearly suffocated us,
and the whole congregation coughed in a frightful
manner for nearly five minutes ; fortunately our church
had openings in all directions and the smoke cleared off
easily. After the festival of Christmas, we were able to
commence the foundations of our new church. The
architecture was to be in the Gothic style, and the build-
ing large enough to accommodate the entire population.
But our means were much more circumscribed than
our projects ; we were in want of machinery ; it was
impossible to find a single pulley in the whole colony ;
hence we were compelled to lift stones and beams of tim-
ber with the sole force of our arms. Against the wages
of masons and carpenters, we had not two thousand
francs ; and not being able to surmount this obstacle, we

188

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

resolved to get round it. The Abbe Dubuis decided
upon our doing ourselves the greater part of the
carpenter's work, under the direction of the carpenters,
who would only be our instructors, and we their pupils ;
they had but to mark on the felled trees what we should
cut or saw; and thus we spared their work as much
as possible. In economising our funds the Abbe Dubuis
was very clever ; and by his contrivances, intelligence,
and economy, we succeeded in reducing our expenses
in extraordinary proportions. It was not enough that
our construction should be fine, it must also be solid
— the greater part being of stone. Meantime the wages
of a stone cutter for a great number of days would
have swallowed up an immense sum. Hence we went
to the woods in search of stones ready cut, and found
near the surface quite a quarry of stones smoothed and
squared, measuring from eight to ten inches in thick-
ness and of different sizes. Some that were ten feet
long by four feet wide served as steps for the stairs,
others not so large were used for the basements and
the windows.

In the absence of machines to poise these unusual
weights, recourse was had to the simplest and most
ingenious plans. When the cart was drawn by the
oxen as near as possible to the large masses of stone,
we took off the wheels and the body of the cart fell
to the ground ; then being provided with oak levers,
we pushed the blocks of stone on wooden rollers into the
cart. This task accomplished, we went together to one of
the axles to lift it and place a stone underneath ; then we
went round to the other to perform the same operation ;
afterwards we returned to the first to raise it still further
and place a second stone under it ; and so on, until we

NECESSITY THE MOTHER OF INVENTION. 189

had the axles at the necessary height. It was then
easy to replace the wheels and proceed to the town.
A greenish grey stone which was easy to cut answered
for the carving of an escutcheon and crosses to orna-
ment the top of the portal. To procure lime, we went at
the head of eight or ten colonists to a limestone quarry,
where it was easy to get plenty of stones. We made a
heap of brambles and dead wood, and placed upon it a
layer of limestones, then piled on branches and wood so as
to form a sort of pyramid, set fire to the wood, and
went away. We returned three days after, and found
nearly eighty barrels of excellent lime. The sand we
took from the river ; but it was more difficult to get
building-timber.

In this country, where the north winds prevail, few
large trees of hard wood are quite straight; plenty
could have been found on the banks of the Medina,
but they were private property, and had a certain
pecuniary value. Scarcely any remained which were
not private property, and those few the colonists cut
down to make boards which they sold at San Antonio.
We were obliged to go and search the woods ; where
we found eight enormous oaks, thirty feet high, per-
fectly straight, and admirably suited to our pur-
poses. They were felled, and placed on the carts in
the same manner as the blocks of stone, and were
intended for the pillars and supports of the roof of
the middle nave. Several fine mesquites served for the
wood-work of the windows. Mesquite wood resembles
mahogany, and is as hard as stone. The colonists who
had leisure undertook to supply us with the necessary
materials for the rafters, for covering in the three naves,
and for the steeple. These preparations concluded, it

190

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

was necessary to commence operations ; and accordingly
the Abbe Dubuis and I set to work with saw and hatchet
like real carpenters. I was not very handy at this work ;
and even when I laid aside the saw and axe to use the
hammer and chisel, to carve the cross and scutcheon
on the stone for the front, my hands became covered
with blisters, and were so painful that I was obliged to
desist ; the Abbe Dubuis was on the contrary quite
indefatigable.

We taught the children only from the morning till
twelve at noon : and although teaching was not congenial
tome, I much preferred it to carpenter's work and stone-
cutting ; so I took my fellow-labourer's place at the
school, while he replaced me at the works. Thus, I
carved and sawed in the afternoon only, which suited
me much better and tended to forward the works ; for
the Abbe Dubuis got on with them much more cleverly
than I. Nothing tired him : he rested while going
hither and thither in search of everything that could be
serviceable to our undertaking. We perceived one day
that we were in want of beams for the wood-work of the
steeple; the Abbe hunted about until he found some
pine trees on neutral ground by the banks of the
river ; he hesitated not to plunge to the waist in the
river in order to cut these trees at the root ; this work
took an entire day in the month of January. I
cannot imagine how he got through it without taking
cold at least. One day as I was busy rounding little
deal boards with a knife, and cutting them into scales
to cover the roof of the steeple (or tower), a little ad-
venture obliged me to be somewhat energetic. One
of our colonists who had never entered a church, but
had lived in a state of perpetual intoxication, and been
a shame and scandal to the colony, died drunk at mid-

FIRMNESS CONQUERS.

191

day in the street. I refused to be present at his
funeral, whether as priest, or as a simple inhabitant
of Castroville. This refusal was a necessary example,
for the least weakness shown in the performance of the
duties of the priest, the slightest relaxation of the just
and salutary strictness of the church, would place the
missionary at the mercy of the first comer. In this
country, where the laws do not suffice for individual
protection, if evil-doers think they can by any means
overcome your resistance without much risk to them-
selves, you are lost. So when the relatives of the
deceased imperatively demanded my presence at the
funeral, I peremptorily declined. " If you won't bury
him with good will, we'll make you do so by force."
I then quietly took off my soutane, and said, " Now you
no longer have to deal with a priest, but with a French-
man who knows how to make his dwelling respected,
and who, should you unfortunately attack with fire-
arms, has a brace of pistols to reply to yours." " We
shall see," said they. " Yes, we shall see," I replied, and
recommenced my work ; having several -thousand little
boards to arrange for the steeple, I had no desire to lose
time. They returned in half an hour, four in number,
with guns and pistols, determined, if not to kill, at least to
terrify me. On seeing them coming, I seized my pistols,
which were not loaded, opened the door, and aimed my in-
offensive weapons at the breasts of the two foremost.
" Advance not," said I, " or I fire ; " they paused imme-
diately, awed by my attitude, or perhaps believing in a
real danger. " If the young priest says he will fire, be
certain that he will do so," said one to his companions.
This remark caused them to retreat, and I returned
to my boards.

192

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

The necessity of self-defence explains why all go
more or less armed in the western part of Texas ; it is
also necessary that the arms should be distinctly seen,
otherwise you risk being insulted by drunken rioters, a
numerous and formidable party in that country.

The construction of the church advanced rapidly ;
the walls were built ; the masons worked at the steeple ;
and, without waiting for its completion, we put up the
eight pillars intended for the middle nave, a difficult
task ; for it was not only necessary to raise enormous
oaks to a perpendicular position, but also to place them,
without pulleys or machinery, on bases of stone two
feet high. Fortunately the town contained many
inhabitants of Herculean strength ; these we called
together, and with their stalwart arms in the course of
one day they placed the eight pillars without accident
on their pedestals. The rapid progress of our works
excited the curiosity and interest of the colonists, who
often gathered together in numerous groups to admire
the new edifice, and, while there, and animated by our
example, they lent us a helping hand so long as they
could be made useful to us. The children of the school
undertook the preparation of the mortar, and went
in the afternoons to the river to fetch the water and
sand for it. The Abbe Dubuis was one day mixing the
mortar, being dressed in a red flannel shirr, trowsers
of blue cotton, a hat without form or colour, and
his entire person bespattered with lime and plaster,
when a young Irish merchant named Thomas Dwyer,
in passing through Castroville, asked him where was
the Abbe Dubuis? The Abbe went to a pool of water,
rapidly washed his face, and cried out, " Here he is ;
what do you want him for ? " " Ah ! " replied the

TOILS RATHER THAN DEBT.

193

young man, laughing, " how could I recognise you with
your face all besmeared, and your many-coloured
garments." And in his character of Irishman, that is
to say, of pious and generous Catholic, he gave ten
piastres for our church ; but, notwithstanding those ten
unexpected piastres, our purse grew low in proportion
to the elevation of our building. For economy, the
abbe and I were obliged to work without hired labour,
and by ourselves we did the greater part of the roofing
and windows. Sometimes, when we could not do
without a workman, we were obliged to give him a pair
of boots or shoes, a shirt, or some other garment as
payment. I sold my famed fifteen-franc horse, which
had been for several months in the woods, and the price
of him paid the workmen for some days. Thus we
succeeded in finishing our church in about three months
without getting into debt, which was almost a miracle
in the United States, where charitable subscriptions
are as illusory as they are numerous. In order to hide
the rafters of the interior of the roof, I covered them
with manta (a very strong unbleached cotton), and
painted Gothic designs upon it. The effect was beauti-
ful ; and to crown our good fortune, we found, a little
later at Galveston, some painted glass, representing
the history of St. Louis, and portraits of some of the
princes of the house of Bourbon ; these fitted our
windows admirably, and as our church was dedicated to
St. Louis, we could not have found anything to suit us
better.

Easter-day, 1850, came at last ; it was the fifth that
we had spent far away from France. Our church,
which was quite finished, appeared in all its beauty,
and in it we celebrated, with great solemnity, the holy

o

194

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

sacrifice of the mass. This was a great event for all
the surrounding country. The church had cost us
about 130Z., and it was certainly worth more than 1600/.
The smallness of the cost surprised every one, both at
San Antonio and at Castroville. People came from
curiosity to see it, and they could not at all comprehend
how it could be so large and so handsome for so small a
sum. This great success surpassed our most sanguine
expectations; but the efforts necessary to ensure it had
worn us out ; continual journeys, fatigues, and priva-
tions of every sort, with poor and insufficient food, had
much impaired our health, and the construction of our
church ruined it. We spat blood. My coadjutor, who
was older, more robust, and inured to hardship, suffered
less than I, and could even still work; but I had constant,
acute rheumatism, and an increasing, racking cough.
I could not kneel for five minutes without fainting, and
constantly recurring nervous spasms rendered it impos-
sible for me to say mass every day. Hence to avoid fall-
ing into a state of incurable lassitude, dragging on a
sickly and burthensome body, as was the case of the
poor Abbe Chanrion, we both resolved to return to
France, to seek repose and health in our native air. It
was not easily done, for we were without money ; but,
after all, it is not more difficult to travel without
money, than to build a church under similar circum-
stances, so we dispensed with it, and had now only to
ask the Bishop's consent, but of that we considered
ourselves sure. We put off our departure, however, till
the week after the Easter holidays, as it was necessary
for me to go to San Antonio to confess the Germans
and Alsacians in the town and neighbourhood, and
to administer to them the Easter communion. I also

THE ADIEU.

195

wished to sell a few things which I still possessed, in
order to make some little provision for the journey,
while waiting for the Abbe Dubuis. My preparations
were soon made, and I bade adieu to this colony, where
I had borne many trials, and sometimes shed tears in
secret ; but where I had also felt joy and consolation at
the sight of the good of which I had been instrumental.
This good was not religious and moral only, it was
also material and tangible. We had induced Charles to
establish a warehouse at Castroville, for the sale of all
sorts of merchandise and utensils used by the colonists,
who hitherto had had to go to San Antonio for every-
thing, and to pay much higher prices. The build-
ing of the church proved to the colonists that they
could replace their miserable huts by good solid houses
of wood and stone, at a trifling cost. This example
so impressed them, that land in the neighbourhood
became threefold more valuable, and as they all were
proprietors of a good extent of land, they became
comparatively wealthy. Our theoretical knowledge
and advice on agriculture had also proved very useful.
Indian corn was better cultivated, every stalk bearing
two or three heads, each of which contained from 800
to 1,400 grains, which was a return of two or three
thousand for one. In the furrows they raised melons
and water-melons, which sold at San Antonio for 5d.
each ; and they commenced to sow wheat, which suc-
ceeded well, besides raising a great variety of vegeta-
bles equally useful and productive. On the other hand,
their efforts to grow the vine had proved unsuccessful,
the great drought causing it to perish ; but grafts of
the European vine upon the native plant had succeeded
satisfactorily. Joy and confidence animated the inhabi-

o 2

196

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

tants, who saw their own prosperity increase while
their colony throve and extended.

When quitting my poor little cabin, into which the
wind and rain entered, where weeds grew and insects
crawled, sighs of regret burst from my heart, and I
vainly tried to restrain my tears, while taking a last
look at my suspended hammock, on which I had so often
slept beneath a starry sky. I thought how dear to me
had beeu those hours of silence, repose, and obscurity.
Memory brought back the balmy breeze laden with the
fresh odours of the forest trees, as it had often cooled
my fevered brow, and the plaintive voice of the bird of
Paradise, or, as it is called by the inhabitants, the widow
bird, whose melancholy cry is heard above the murmurs
of the river and the forest trees. While taking a last
farewell of the lonely grave of the Abbe Chazelle, and
kneeling upon the violets and mignionette which grew
upon and embalmed it, I wept like a child at the
thought that my hands should no longer tend, nor my
lips pour out their most fervent prayers beside it. It
was not without regret that I quitted those scenes of
nature so bold, so luxuriant in tropical vegetation,
where I had witnessed scenes and incidents so various,
and felt such different emotions, sentiments, and
thoughts follow each other in rapid succession ; where
every year seemed to me to have had the duration of a
hundred, so fully had my days, hours, and minutes
been occupied. I even bade adieu to the domestic
animals about me, those honest companions of daily life;
and with a full heart, looking a fond and sad farewell
upon all surrounding and familiar objects, I mounted
my horse, and proceeded slowly on my journey, stopping
from time to time at those scenes or objects which

DEPARTURE FROM C ASTRO VILLE.

197

recalled past actions, thoughts, or feelings. For the last
time I crossed the little river Medina, which was full of
variety with its graceful windings and rapids, now rush-
ing turbulently over a bed of rocks, and again flowing
smoothly and innocently under a dome of verdure. I
hailed again those vast plains and the roebucks which
gambolled and disported there ; and verily do I believe
that I even regretted the rattlesnakes which had so
often terrified me. I had become a regular child of the
woods and plains, had taken up the habits of a wander-
ing life in the new world, and become accustomed to
this hard-worked and laborious existence. I was no
longer a man of European habits or society, and France
was about to appear to me as a country over-civilised,
too monotonous and prosaic, and foreign to my tastes,
which had become rather wild. It would seem as
though one half of man's life was passed in regretting
the other. Nevertheless my heart beat violently when
I thought of my country, my family, and friends.

After some days the Abbe Dubuis rejoined me at
Castroville, but not without having again risked his
life. A mason of Castroville had asked a young girl
in marriage, but had been refused because she was
engaged to be married to another. The mason told
the abbe that he would kill him and me also, if he
celebrated the marriage between his rival and the girl.
It was useless for the abbe to point out to him that we
had not the regulation of affairs of the heart, and that
we could not refuse our ministry to those who asked it,
where no lawful impediment existed — he would not
listen to any reasoning. The marriage was celebrated
notwithstanding, and the Abbe Dubuis set out for San
Antonio the following morning, accompanied by a few

198

TEXAS AND MEXICO,

armed colonists. On the opposite shore, at the ford of the
Medina, he saw the mason armed to the teeth, and
ready to fire upon the first who should advance ; so to
prevent accident, he and his companions resolved to
cross the river at another point. The mason under-
stood this manoeuvre, and galloped off towards a part of
the road which the abbe was obliged to pass. The
colonists wished to accompany him to San Antonio, but
he sent them back at the end of fifteen miles, either
fearing a murderous collision, or thinking their aid of no
use. Nevertheless he looked anxiously into every thicket
and clump of trees, and when he had arrived at the
rancho of the Leona, it occurred to him that the thicket
and underwood which bordered this little creek were
favourable to the criminal projects of his enemy, and he
prudently crossed it at full gallop. He had rightly
guessed, for the mason was in the wood, but did not
expect the abbe so soon, and suddenly seeing him pass
so rapidly, he had not time to take aim. While dis-
mounting from his horse at San Antonio, the abbe
cried out to me, " Do not stir out, or you are a dead
man ! "

" Ha ! what is the matter now ? " I anxiously en-
quired.

"The matter is, that your friend the mason — the
same that I had heard singing a few days after my
arrival at San Antonio — wishes to kill you, and that I
barely escaped with my life."

The abbe related to me his adventure ; so we pru-
dently kept within doors at night, and went out by day
only when obliged to do so. Having but little money,
we were forced to go to Lavaca on foot while two
Mexicans undertook the transport of our boxes and

A HARMLESS UPSET.

199

provisions on their heavy carts, for a few piastres. A
young Frenchman who was returning to France joined
our party, and was delighted with the free and adven-
turous life which we were about to lead — it had at least
for him all the charms of novelty and variety.

I knew by experience how painful and fatiguing the
inclemency of the weather, the sand, and bad roads ren-
dered this kind of journey. I was a bad walker, and
dreaded having to go a hundred leagues on foot under a
sky which seemed on fire even in the month of March ;
but to the Abbe Dubuis all this seemed a trifle. We en-
camped the first day on the skirts of a wood where were
many pools of water covered with wild ducks, of which I
killed five at one shot. Our Mexicans had taken the pre-
caution to bring a pot, and we all did our best towards
the preparation of dinner, one taking care to keep up
the fire and another to pluck the ducks, while the cook-
ing fell to my lot. We made an excellent dinner, which,
in conjunction with the good humour and gaiety of my
companions, soon enabled me to forget the fatigues of the
day. On the following day we had to cross the creek of
the Calavera, which flows through a deep and steep
ravine. Our tired compatriot remained lying on one of
the carts. Having ourselves arrived at the opposite side
the abbe and 1 looked with anxiety towards the oxen
as they mounted the ascent with considerable difficulty ;
but suddenly the bolt which held the pole broke, and
the cart was precipitated into the ravine; while the
oxen continued their journey as if nothing had hap-
pened. Our fellow countryman who was lying on the
trunks was somewhat startled, but escaped unhurt.
We now encamped near San Antonio, where our Mexi-
cans made fishing-lines, with what I know not, nor how,

200

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

but they caught three enormous fish ; and thus we had
both abundance and variety for our repast.

On the fifth morning, at sunrise, we found ourselves
in a magnificent wood of fragrant cedars. The air was
pure and fresh, and the abbe and I, as was our usual
habit, entered into meditation while walking along1. I

7 o o

saw a little bird which was unable to fly hop out from
the brambles; I caught it without any difficulty, and
showed it to the Abbe Dubuis, who examined it and
found an excrescence of hard skin growing upon the
tongue, so that it could not eat. Not having a pin at
hand, the abbe took a thorn and very cleverly removed
the excrescence, made the little bird swallow a few drops
of water, and then set it at liberty. Feeling itself imme-
diately relieved, it fluttered about the wood, sending forth
little notes of thanks and contentment. On the sixth
day, which was Saturday, we had to cross a great plain
on which were neither trees nor brambles ; so before en-
tering upon it, we were obliged to gather firewood for
our evening's encampment. Our provision of blocks
being nearly exhausted, our good humour somewhat
worn out, the distance we had to traverse seemed to us a
terrible length. Besides we were in want of water, and
had nothing for supper but a box of Sardines, and some
cheese instead of bread. As I was about to lie down to
sleep upon the grass, the abbe said to me, " Smoke a
pipe, it will take away your thirst, and let us chat
awhile." But not approving of this kind of refreshment,
I went to sleep. At one o'clock the abbe awaked me,
saying, " Let us now set out, so that we may be able to
say mass at an early hour." " Why, what is the matter
with you ? " said I, " you are like the Wandering Jew ;
you never can remain quiet ; we have scarcely arrived, and
yet you already wish to set out again." u Xo, my dear

TEXIAN RIVERS.

201

fellow, you deceive yourself, you have slept at least three
hours, it is now one o'clock in the morning ; we have
still a journey of ten leagues to make before we reach
Victoria, and as we are hungry and very ill-dressed, it
is desirable that we should arrive before the usual hour
of the services.'5 I yielded to these reasons, and we
were soon on our way ; and after walking for two hours,
we reached the wood which runs along the Coleto. This
wood seems as though planted in sand, in which we sank
knee-deep, which increased our fatigue extremely. Soon
after we came in sight of the Coleto, whose width was
alarming, and 1 feared that it was proportionately deep.
As the abbe could swim he entered first, but the water
scarcely covered his knees. The rivers of Texas deceive
one much ; for in looking at a map, it would seem to be
one of the best watered countries in the world, while it
is on the contrary one of the driest. I found the water
very cold, and my feet were cut by the shingles. With
the first light of day, we entered the plain which borders
Victoria ; the prairie birds, of low and heavy flight,
were roused at our approach and uttered a strange cry :
these were the only living things that we saw. We
arrived at the forest of the Colorado at six in the morn-
ing, and met some American waggons, whose drivers
seemed much astonished at seeing two Catholic priests
at such an hour travelling on foot in these regions.

We crossed the Colorado in a boat, and were in a few
minutes at the chapel of Victoria, where we celebrated
mass. The parish priest was our countryman who had
come to see us at Castroville, and accompanied me to
Braunfels. We spent the day with him, and in the
evening the abbe and I wrent to rejoin the Mexicans and
our baggage on the plain of Lavaca.

On leaving Victoria we found three roads before us,

202

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

and were puzzled which to choose, for the wind blew with
such violence that it swept away all traces of wheels ;
at all risks we followed one of these roads, and after an
hour's journey we descended into a valley which was
quite sheltered from the wind, and furrowed with
numerous wheel-marks, but our waggons were not
there. We concluded that we had mistaken our
way, and cut across the fields in search of our fellow-
travellers. Night falls, a fire blazes in the distance, we
hasten towards it, and find our countryman and the
Mexicans busily employed making a fricassee of some
prairie fowls which they had just killed. It was our last
night for sleeping on the plain, and this idea heightened
our good humour. Pipes were lighted, conversation
became animated, we wrapped our cloaks about us,
looked up to the heavens, and sang in concert such, as
memory recalled of the hymns and melodies which had
been familiar to us in childhood. At two o'clock in the
morning we ceased singing, and rose to continue our
journey ; but what was our surprise on finding that we
were surrounded by Americans, Irishmen, and Mexicans,
who had drawn near to hear us sing ; behind them we
saw a regular troop of horses and oxen, forming a
circle round us, having also no doubt been attracted by
our singing. I then learned that we had encamped near
a pool of water, where the drivers generally rested and
watered their animals. About ten o'clock in the
morning we reached another pool of water — dark,
muddy, and infectious ; it was called chocolate, doubtless
on account of its colour. This was also a frequent
place of encampment. We halted here, and made our
coffee of the bad water, and were also obliged to sprinkle
our cheese with it — a little piece of cheese being all that
remained of our stock. I had seldom made a more un-

CAMP MEETING ON BOARD.

203

palatable meal, though jokes and puns were not wanting.
Nevertheless we supped at Lavaca that evening, and
sailed for Galveston on the following morning.

Our bishop would not consent to lose two missionaries
at the same time ; for he wanted priests now more than
ever, several having died, and the cholera had just swept
off another at Indian Point. He, however, gave one of
us permission to return home, and the other a little
time to rest and recruit his health. As I was the most
seriously ill, the youngest and least necessary, and also
because family affairs recalled me to Europe, and as
I promised soon to return, the Abbe Dubuis con-
sented to remain, and went to New Orleans to collect
a little money with which to purchase a bell worthy of
our new church. The worthy good bishop, who had
only twenty-five piastres, gave me fifteen of them, with
the addition of a bill of two hundred francs for my
journey. Poor bishop ! he himself had to make a
journey into the interior of Texas, yet he deprived him-
self of necessaries in order to enable one of his priests
to return and seek in his native land that health which
he had lost on a foreign mission. I proceeded to New
Orleans and received help from my brethren there ;
whence I wrent up the Mississippi as far as Cairo, whence
I ascended the Ohio to Cincinnati, and crossed Lake
Erie in company with 600 methodists of every age and
sex. They were returning from a camp meeting, and
continued their preaching and religious exercises on
board the steamer. I visited the grand and beautiful
falls of Niagara, to which justice has never been done by
any painter — indeed it would be impossible to represent
them faithfully. I set foot on the Canadian shore ; and
soon after I embarked at New York for England, where
we arrived at Southampton after a passage of fourteen

201

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

days. I saw London for the first time, but feeling no
desire to remain there, I re-embarked and hailed the
shores of France the same evening. With what ecstaey
I landed at Boulogne, and felt that my foot pressed once
more my dear native land ! I had to restrain myself or I
would have embraced the gendarmes and custom-house
officers, for they were the first Frenchmen that I met.
I passed some hours with a family to whose care and
kindness I had been recommended; and they received
me in the most friendly way, loading me with delicate
and thoughtful attentions. I was deeply moved at re-
ceiving unexpectedly such frank and cordial hospitality.
France is the country where taste, politeness, and all
the qualities of the heart, reach their culminating point.
I wondered at hearing every one speak French, for my
mother tongue had almost become a foreign language to
my ears. I arrived at Lyons two days afterwards, and
it was just ten o'clock in the evening when I knocked
at my mother's door. How my heart beat ! " Who is
there ?" " It is I." " It is my Emmanuel ! " We fell
into each other's arms and wept tears of joy — a mother's
caresses are sweet at any age. I presented myself to
my relations and friends the following day, but I was
obliged to tell them my name, and to assure them of
my identity before they could be persuaded to recognise
in the hollow-cheeked, wrinkled, sun-burnt, wan and
haggard being that stood before them, the young
man who had been tolerably well-looking, hearty and
strong, when he left them. My mother's heart alone
recognised me.

END OF THE FIRST JOURNEY.

SECOND JOURNEY.
CHAPTER I.

A VISIT TO THE HOLY FATHER. RETURN TO AMERICA. — A RATH ICR

DIVERSIFIED VOYAGE. DESCRIPTIONS OF AND IMPRESSIONS THERE-
UPON. SERMONS ON BOARD. — AN IMAGINARY SHIPWRECK. THE

BRAZOS. ISABELLA POINT. — BROWNSVILLE. NEW MUNICIPAL

STREET-CUTTING REGULATIONS. — OPINION OF MY PARISHIONERS
ABOUT THE MISSIONARIES.

After a sojourn of three weeks at Lyons, I set out to
see the Holy Father at Rome, to talk to him about my
mission, and to present to him a pair of beautiful mo-
cassins embroidered by our Indians. My entire worldly
possession was a purse containing five francs, and the
permission of the minister of marine to sail gratis in the
government vessels. I reached Toulon on the 14th of
October; and after traversing part of the South of France,
sometimes a-foot, sometimes en diligence, as my means and
necessity dictated, I embarked on the 15th, in the Veloce,
with several infantry officers who accompanied a detach-
ment of soldiers to Rome. The weather was fine, the
sea calm, the voyage a charming one.

During the evening, by moonlight, I mixed among
the soldiers, with whom I chatted a long time with no
little amusement and cordial feeling. Arrived at Civita
Yecchia I had the five francs in my pocket, but this was
not quite enough to pay my way to Rome ; and expe-
rience had already taught me that it is a far more diffi-

206

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

cult business to travel without money in a civilised
than in a barbarian country. Still I did not lose heart
at a trifle of this kind, but made up my mind to go to
Rome on foot, by daily marches, like the soldiers.

In the eternal city, in vain I sought gratuitous
hospitality. I put myself entirely into the hands
of Providence for the payment of my expenses, and I
asked an audience of the Holy Father, who at once
acceded to my request.

I was very poorly clad, but at the Vatican a man is
not judged by his dress. His Holiness received me with
his accustomed benevolence. He would not have me
kiss his toe, but gave me his hand. During my life I
had never seen features so full of sympathy, so kind, or
so venerable. Our conversation was a long one, and
turned naturally on the missions, on the Indians in
general, and on my own affairs in particular. I briefly
told my adventures, and the Holy Father replied, " I
see, dear child, that you are inured to misery."

" So much so," I replied, " that even in Rome it quits
me not."

"How so?"

I then frankly avowed my pecuniary embarrassments,
for my five francs had totally disappeared. His Holi-
ness smiled, and seeing my confidence in God, said to
me, " Since you travel on the business of Providence, His
vicar shall pay your travelling expenses." And suit-
ing the action to the word, His Holiness gave me a
handful of gold. On my side I took out of my pocket
the mocassins, which were folded in a morsel of torn
paper, and presented them to the Holy Father, who ex-
amined the embroidery, and praised the ingenuity of
the Indians. The noble simplicity and affecting bene-

TAMEKESS OF CIVILISATION.

207

volence of Pope Pius IX. are too well known for me to
dwell on this tete-a-tete, the remembrance of which is
still to me a sweet consolation.

On the 1st of November I left Italy for France, which
I traversed in all directions. The revolution of February
had alarmed men's minds, and shut up their purses, so
that 1 had almost completely failed in my enterprise
to put together some money for our poor and interest-
ing mission of Texas. I was more successful, however,
in my search for young priests ready to share our
labours and trials ; but the majority of them were poor,
and their zeal ineffectual, as they could not pay their
way to Texas. My health was still but very indifferent,
my strength being very slow in returning ; however,
the distant lands, where I had run so many risks and
supported so much fatigue, retained their attraction for
my eyes. In the solitude of the new world I had con-
tracted the habit of living constantly at danger's door ;
the grand scenes of nature, the deep emotions of the
heart, had become for me wants of imperious necessity.
Europe with its narrow prejudices, its niggard selfish-
ness, and its dull bourgeoisie, appeared to me uninha-
bitable.

Every day I missed an illusion which made my
heart at twenty-five buoyant with joy. Seeing the
world at a nearer view and with more enlarged and
less home-made ideas, I discovered in it every moment
miseries and wounds, moral and physical, at which I
recoiled. On the other hand the missions had no longer
for me the charm of novelty which might at least coun-
terpoise the bitterness of the trials to come. I knew
how poignant sufferings and isolation are in these coun-
tries ; and what strength and energy must be called

208

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

forth to keep one's self constantly united to God, and
not to halt and stop short half way, fatigued and heart-
fallen. Still I could not think of those poor colonists of
Texas, with whom I had lived three years, whom I had
directed by exhortations, enlightened and supported by
the aids of religion, and to whom conscience whispered
to me that I had been of service according to the mea-
sure of my strength, — I could not, I say, think of them
without feeling a powerful desire to go and rejoin them
at the earliest opportunity, in order to accomplish a
task which I regarded as sacred. Hence I made up my
mind to depart once more, and accordingly I left France
on the 7th of March, 1851. My departure was a mourn-
ful one ; the voyage was fated to prove a chapter of
accidents.

I was on board the Franklin, which was about to
make her first or second trip. We first called at Cowes,
where we expected a visit from the Queen of England,
who was anxious to see this beautiful vessel, and the next
morning we were sailing on the " ocean wave." The
wind whistled shrill and violent through the rigging ;
the waves, mountain high, buffeted us in such a manner
that it was impossible either to sit or stand ; and sud-
denly the storm gives way to a tempest. The billows
break over the deck, and sweep clean away whatever
they encounter ; the masts crash ; the paddles of the
wheels are broken to pieces ; the forecastle falls in.
Every aperture on deck is carefully closed, yet we have
fourteen feet of water in the hold ! All along I con-
tinued to read in my overflooded cabin, while I heard
above the din of the tempest, the oaths of the seamen,
the cries, the prayers, or the wailings of the passengers.
During the forty- eight hours that this tempest raged, I
felt as if every moment would be my last.

YANKEE BOAT RACE.

209

On the seventh day of our voyage, the wind abated
somewhat, and I ventured on deck. It was covered
over with ice, and immense icicles of dazzling bril-
liance hung from the spars and the paddle-box. The
carpenter of the Franklin, suspended over the deep
by means of ropes, was repairing the damage. In the
evening we observed huge icebergs floating as the
currents bore them. On the banks of Newfoundland
the sea was covered over with millions of sea-birds
gracefully poising themselves on the waves ; and at last
we arrived at Hudson's Bay, which is truly magnificent.
The heavens were serene, the sun genially warm, the
sea calm and mirror-like, without a breeze to ripple
its surface. At our ease we gazed in admiration on
the enchanting shore of this bay, one of the most
beautiful in the world, as it is ornamented with pretty
little towns coquettish in their beauty, elegant and
graceful country residences scattered over the green
and blue rising grounds of Long Island and New Jersey.

Lake Erie being frozen over, I was obliged to make a
stay of fifteen days at New York. I afterwards embarked
in one of the monster steamers that ply on the Hudson
as far as Albany. rl hanks to a spirited sailing match
we made this distance — about 156 miles — in a few
hours, and for the trifling sum of one piastre. The two
contending boats weighed anchor at the same moment,
and set out in a spirit of proud rivalry. We sailed
twenty-five, at times twenty-seven, miles an hour ; and
yet our captain, not quite satisfied with this speed, had
casks of oil and grease thrown into the furnace. The fire
seized the vessel twice. At forks of the river the rival
boats endeavoured to cut clear a-head in order to shorten
their way, and in this manoeuvre they often became en-

210

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

tangled, with the danger of both going to the bottom,
while there were from seven to eight hundred passengers
on board. The contest was becoming quite a serious
matter, and our lives were in jeopardy at once from
smoke, fire and water. We hold a hurried meeting, dis-
cuss the crisis, and send a deputation to the captain,
praying him to desist from this dangerous course. He
replied with Jack-tar- American politeness : —

" You be d — -d ; for what you pay, you may as well
all go to h — 11." At the same time he bawls out to the
fireman, " Fire — fire, you there — more lard in the fur-
nace." Our position had become truly fearful, when one
of the passengers put an end to it by levelling a musket
at the poor helmsman of our rival, and discharging its
contents into his body. The poor fellow let go the
wheel and dropped down frightfully wounded.

Arrived at Albany, I took the train to Buffalo, having
run these 345 miles in twelve hours, but not without
accident. The train that preceded us had got off the
rails, and the way not being yet clear at the scene of the
disaster, despite all the efforts of the engineer, we drove
into a carriage on the line and had three of our com-
pany severely injured. At Buffalo, notwithstanding a
violent gale that threatened a tempest on. the lake, I
embarked for Sandusky, where we arrived after a
horrible passage of forty-eight hours and having twice
struck on the sand-banks. All along the passengers
held themselves ready, provided with a chair or some
kind of life-buoy, expecting every moment to be hurled
into the lake. From Sandusky to Cincinnati — a dis-
tance of 225 miles — I travelled by rail. Perhaps in
the United States there is no other line more varied or
picturesque in its scenery. When I was at Cincinnati,

COLLISION. OHIO SCENERY.

211

the wife of the first colonist who cleared those charming
undulating tracts was still to be seen there. It is
certainly one of the handsomest cities of the United
States, and the Germans have made it one of the richest.
The vine produces there a very good quality of grape ;
and it is the only part of the United States where the
tree is extensively cultivated.

We went down the Ohio in a magnificent steamer ;
and two days after our departure we came into collision
with a vessel going up the river. She went down at
once; but we succeeded in saving sixteen of her pas-
sengers. It was in April, and the weather was heavy,
forcing one into a musing mood, with its chilling
cheerless blasts murmuring as they came. I got on
deck, and threw myself down before the pilot's cabin,
preferring this icy solitude on deck to the stunning talk
of the saloon, where the passengers blistered their
tongues with eternal gossip about huge stoves that gave
out more smoke than heat. By degrees I saw unfold-
ing itself before me one of those panoramas of wild and
primal beauty that has always for me a charm, new
though melancholy.

Beautiful hillocks encircled with trees, and uniform in
their proportions, lined the banks of the Ohio, forming
a double range of vast and monotonous undulations,
which, like monster embankments, confined the stream
to a narrower bed and set bounds to its course. The yel-
lowish waters of the river rolled along slowly, and wound
round here and there into a thousand graceful forms.
A scarcely perceptible down of early verdure graced the
tops of the trees which nature had scattered over these
hillocks in such profusion. You would have imagined
them two armies of giants encamped in an antediluvian

p 2

212

TEXAS A ED MEXICO.

valley. Here and there you observed, either on the Ken-
tucky or the Ohio side, certain cleared spots, planted with
the germs of some future American towns ; you distin-
guished houses of wood or of brick, separate or in groups,
on each side of one or more dirty streets, in which a mul-
titude of hogs wallowed in the luxury of mire. The
sight of these few houses, red or white as they were, rest-
ing on the river's bank and waiting for a destiny, for a
future, made me sad. However, these embryos of cities,
these miniature germs of cities in the distance of time,
are mutually connected by a cordon of huts made of
planks or blocks of trees, and present considerable interest
from their very situation. In presence of these diversified
pictures of nature and of man my imagination roved
away in the regions of an undefined melancholy — for in
America, as everywhere else, I found man blotting out
the sublime poetic creations of primitive nature to make
room for the prosy work of speculation, which, whatever
may be its commercial usefulness, will be ever, for the
intelligent traveller and tourist, a winding-sheet of ice
thrown over those delicious thoughts that spring from
the sublime scenes of solitary nature.

I remained several hours reclined, indulging in my
reveries : when I thought of going below, the sun had
already sunk behind the rising grounds ; the branches
of the trees and their slight tufts of verdure stood out
in relief against the green-blue sky like summer clouds ;
the river grew broader, forming itself into a large lake, of
a dark hue and gradually of a shapeless outline; a graceful
island was espied in the middle of the river on the verge
of the horizon ; a light white vapour, resembling a scarf
of delicate gauze, enveloped the distant island in its unsub-
stantial folds; and, as it rose above the trees, it reflected,

MOONITES WITHOUT WATER.

213

in a mysterious manner, the golden hues of the setting
sun. This freak of nature had just added a new feeling
to that chaos of diversified impressions which, for the last
few hours, had brought into play all the poetic chords
of my soul. Meanwhile it was piercingly cold, and while
eye and imagination roamed abroad, my teeth chattered,
and yet I felt not that I was chilled and frozen.

On entering the saloon I saw my fellow-travellers
gathered round an Episcopalian bishop, who was deve-
loping a rather singular thesis : he was attempting to
prove that as there is no water in the moon there can
be no men there; for men cannot live without water.
I would have asked him to prove that there was no
water in the moon, but I feared my demand would be
deemed out of place by the preacher — I say preacher,
for his eloquence took quite the shape of a sermon.
After him two Presbyterian ministers preached on the
inferiority of the Indian races to the whites, and on the
impossibility of bringing the former within the pale of
civilisation. These two had resided in one of the American
forts on the Ked Eiver, and had seized the opportunity
of preaching to some of the Indians who came to demand
payment for their ceded territory. It is well known
that the American Government has driven some of the
Indian tribes from their lands allowing them, in consi-
deration, some wretched annual pittance- This brace of
ministers told us that the Indians were brutalised by
their indulgence in alcoholic drinks, and that the gospel
had no salutary influence on their lives.

In proof of their assertion they related that they them-
selves were witnesses to some payments made them by the
American Government, for which these naked savages,
instead of buying clothes, procured umbrellas, hats, and

p 3

214

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

eau-de-vie. When a Protestant minister is on board a
steamer he rarely escapes being asked to preach, no
matter what about. These casual sermons no doubt
entertain the passengers, but they are devoid at once of
solid interest and moral effect.

According as we were making progress down the
river we were passing, too, apace from winter to spring-
time ; the trees were putting on their mantle of green
and the shrubs bedecking themselves with flowers ; the
light downy tufts, scarcely presenting a shade of verdure
on the Ohio banks, were changed along the Mississippi
into a dense and fragrant foliage, while the temperature
increased in proportion. Opposite Wicksburg about
thirty trusses of hay, left by negligence near the furnace
of the steamer, took fire ; and to escape being roasted
alive in the midst of water, we all ran to the pumps, and
eventually mastered the flames.

Arrived at Louisiana I felt as if borne again to the
burning life of the tropics ; the poplars, the sycamores,
the wild vine, the different plants were in all the pomp of
vernal beauty, while the air was fragrant with the rich per-
fume of flower and forest, and yet it was only the month
of April. At last, we arrived at New Orleans, but not
having wherewithal to go to Texas, I returned to La-
fourche, to collect among my friends. The kind Arch-
bishop of New Orleans added so much to my store, that
on the 5th of May I resumed my journey, and two days
after, favoured by excellent weather, I arrived at Galves-
ton. The Bishop of Galveston exchanged my mission
at Castroville for a new one on the western frontiers of
Texas, which are bounded by the Rio del Norte, com-
monly called the Rio Grande, which has its source at
the base of the Sierra- Verde, and empties itself into the

THE SAILOR'S DREAM.

215

Gulf of Mexico. This new destination put me about a
good deal ; for it not only separated me from my sterling
friend and colleague the Abbe Dubuis, but it also shut
me out completely from my old acquaintances. I did not
relish solitude very much ; for in these countries, more
barbarian than civilised, it presented dangers and ennuis
which, without the special aids of grace, the most iron
will could not support. I pleaded my ignorance of
Spanish, which is the language of the mass of the Ca-
tholics of these portions of the country ; but I had to
yield to the pious urgency of the venerable prelate, who
promised to send me a co-operator at his earliest oppor-
tunity ; and on the 4th of May I embarked in the teeth
of a frightful tempest, which was nearly making short
work of us all an hour after our departure. I confess
that, being too well aware of the rickety state of our
craft, the tempest had no great charms for me, especially
as I had had already no small experience of its nature
and workings. Hence the hoarse raging of the waves
wras to me quite monotonous.

On the first night we witnessed a scene, the burlesque
of which can be more easily conceived than expressed.
The steward of the steamer had fallen asleep on a sofa in
the cabin, while a servant, having no bed to lie on stretched
himself near the sofa, and was soon wrapped in a profound
sleep. The storm that still continued to rage exercised,
no doubt, a certain influence on the steward's dreams; for
he dreamt that the craft was shattered by the tempest,
and that he was cast among the waves, having no hope
but in a plank which he spied just before his eyes, and
which he seized and held to with all his might. At this
moment a huge wave struck the boat a-starboard and
flung us all clean out of our berths. The steward,

216

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

without awaking, fell plump on the servant, and ima-
gining him the safety plank of his dream, grasped him
by the neck, crying out at the same time, " Oh ! thank
God, I have hold of it — it shall not slip from me."

The servant, startled out of his sleep by this fearful
gripe, cried out " Help ! assassin ! " Attracted loy the
cries of both combatants, we moved at once to the rescue
of the assailed, but we left out of our calculations the
heaving of the boat, which sent most of us bang
down upon both the steward and the servant. To com-
plete the confusion, in rushes a lady in a strange and
disordered costume, all in tears, and alarmed out of
her wits by the pelting storm. She flung herself at the
feet of the steward, crying out, " Captain, Captain, save
me — land me somewhere and I'll give you ten thousand
piastres."

The steward, now quite restored to consciousness,
laughed in his peculiar way, and observing the lady,
briskly answered, " I'm not the captain ; and as for the
matter of that, why for all the gold in the world we
could not put you ashore, for we are a good way off
from land."

At last we arrived at Brazos Santiago. A stranger,
unacquainted with the extension accorded to the word
town in the United States, would be at a loss for a trace
of one in a few wretched huts scattered along the shore.
I think I have already observed that the coast of Texas
is girt around, almost in its entire extent, by a string
of various sandy islands, of very unequal length. The
spaces between them are called bars, and the bays
formed by them with the mainland are so shallow
that vessels cannot land their passengers or cargoes
except in boats and flat-bottomed craft. Brazos is

POINT ISABELLA.

217

situated at the eastern extremity of one of these islands,
and only four miles from the mouth of the Rio Grande.
Besides the few huts already referred to, there are
some large wooden structures, got up at the time of the
Mexican war, as depots of the American army. These
edifices are now abandoned ruins. In summer the
heat is suffocatirjg ; the absence of trees or verdure,
and the reflection of the sun's scorching heat from the
sands, would make the place uninhabitable were there
not a sea breeze morning and evening to temper the
burning heat of the atmosphere.

A boat conveyed us from Brazos to Point Isabella,
the nearest inland town in this quarter, and the
entrepot of goods coming from the United States, and
destined for the frontiers of Texas and the interior of
Mexico. It is just a similar place to Brazos, slovenly,
sorry, and chiefly inhabited by Mexicans, whose huts are
pitched without taste or order on the strand. You never
fail to meet there a number of arrieros, or Mexican car
drivers, whose huge vehicles drawn by oxen are waiting
for goods to be conveyed to Brownsville. The region
about Point Isabella has an elevation of some yards above
the level of the bay, and forms an amphitheatre of sand
and yellowish earth, which feeds at intervals a few tufts
of grass and stunted brushwood, the prey of the scorch-
ing sun. Along the horizon the eye is relieved by no
variety ; all is a parched desert.

The passengers were provided with two vehicles
drawn by four horses. Once seated we were off at a
gallop. My next neighbour was the director of the
bank at Brownsville, a native Mexican, by name Couth-
way. He was also a bit of a naturalist, a man of no
common intelligence, as well as of distinguished mien and

218

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

manners, such, that I formed for him a sincere attachment
during our passage from Galveston to Brazos. Though
a zealous Episcopalian, and aware of my character as a
Catholic missionary, he on his side formed for me a friend-
ship proof against the changes of time and place. By his
warm introductions he procured me a gratifying recep-
tion in the easy society of the frontiers ; he spoke to all
his friends and acquaintances of what he was pleased to
call the liberality of my character, which was nothing
more than common Christian charity, and the simple
practice of the spirit of the gospel. Thus, let me confess
it, this worthy friend smoothed down afterwards not a
few difficulties that lay in my path, in securing for me
the confidence and esteem of the bulk of the people with
whom it was my destiny to be in daily contact.

The route from Isabella Point to Brownsville lies for
some distance along the bay ; then turning to the left
it enters a vast marshy plain, indented with natural salt-
pits, and often presenting the phenomenon of the mirage.
This plain at its north-western extremity joins that of
Palo- Alto, in which was fought the first battle between
the Americans under General Taylor and the Mexicans
commanded by General Arista. The success attending
this first campaign of the Americans, which was of two
years' duration, was owing, in a great measure, to their
superior artillery. The high road runs through the
middle of the battle field.

Leaving behind us the plain of Palo- Alto, we entered
a thick-set brushwood, formerly frequented by the In-
dians, who butchered there a whole Irish family, the
ruins of whose dwelling are still visible to the left of the
road. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century this part
of Texas was called Costa- Deserta by Spanish historians.

ORIGIN OF BROWNSVILLE.

219

The Indians themselves never seemed to take to it much.
We next passed by the Resaca De La Palma, equally re-
markable for a bloody encounter, of which it was the
scene on the day following that of Palo- Alto. The
Mexicans give the name of Resaca to a dried-up bed
of a river, and of such there is no small number along
the bank of the Rio Grande. At last we arrived at
Brownsville, my future place of residence.

During the war of intervention the American Colonel
Brown constructed a fort in front of Matamo^as, a
Mexican town, where he fell, and lies in the fort which
bears his name.

Around this dreaded tomb some French and Ameri-
can merchants settled down, as well as a number of
Mexican families, and thus Brownsville was founded. At
my arrival the town had been standing four years, and
already did it reckon about five or six thousand in
population, chiefly Mexicans.

The site of Brownsville is most favourable for transit
commerce ; situated on the extreme limits of Texas, it
despatches goods to all the Mexican towns, north and
east. It is situated in ninety-eight degrees (Green-
wich) west longitude, and twenty-eight north latitude,
about thirty-five miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The
yellowish sandy waters of the Rio Grande wash, in
their course, the gardens of the town and its amphi-
theatre-shaped quay. The soil consists of fine white
sand, which, in north winds, rises in whirls so thick as
to darken the atmosphere, and render all intercourse in
the streets impossible. As a set-ofF the rain, which in
these quarters falls suddenly in immense torrents, makes
rivers of the streets, which foot-passengers, horses and
cattle wade through without faltering. The vicinity is

220

TEXAS AMD MEXICO.

fertile and the vegetation of tropical luxuriance. You
meet with neither birch nor fir-tree, even the oak is
rare, but in every direction rise the date tree, the fan-
branch palm tree, the ebony, the aloe, the Cocus Mau-
ri tia, the colossal fern, the cactus of every denomi-
nation, The woods abound with wild vines and odo-
riferous plants, countless flowers of countless brilliant
colours, forms, and enchanting perfumes, and over this
rich fecundity of earth expands a sky without speck,
a sun cloudless and glorious.

The church of Brownsville rose opposite Brown's
fort, in the midst of a wild, uncultivated, unenclosed
country. It was of wood, and could accommodate about
three hundred people. The belfry was not unlike a
cage surmounted by a cross. I contrived, after a time,
to cover the shapelessness of the walls and all the inside
with certain paintings on cotton. The presbytery formed
part of the building, which consisted of a square struc-
ture of four chambers, one being the sacristy ; but there
was not even a particle of furniture in it ; and hence
the first night I was happy to sleep on the boards. Next
day a young officer of the garrison gave me a settee
bed, bed linen, blankets and a few chairs, offering me
also his table and his purse. I really had need of these
kind offers, being almost penniless at the time, and I
therefore gratefully accepted them. Without them I
hardly know how I could have settled down in my des-
titution. This good officer's name was M. Garresche, a
Frenchman by birth, and an excellent Catholic.

The aspect of the city is pleasing enough. The greater
part of the houses are made of brick, but well-shaped
and surrounded with gardens. Along the thorough-
fares it is protected by facades, which are half hidden

ARRANGING AN OLD TOWN.

221

from view by Chinese lilac, willows and acacias, which
give at once shade and perfume to the houses. The
streets are wide, and at right angles, though they were
not so at all times. In the beginning, each colonist and
merchant fixed his hut wherever he liked. As the town
developed itself, the necessity of a municipal organisa-
tion became manifest, and its action was inaugurated
by an ordinance relative to the proper direction of the
streets. The sheriff, who was quite a practical man,
though a downright brute and knew no compromise,
— of whom by-and-bye — was charged with the execu-
tion of the decree. He proclaimed that within the
space of eight days every house should be on the line
drawn by the surveyor-general, and that all those
that were not promptly changed must be taken down
forthwith. All knew what kind of man the sheriff
was, and that his menace was no vain parade ; hence
during the week all the houses were one great wreck,
some receding, others projecting, as the sheriff's tape
directed.

The ground was sandy and irregular, so that every
moment houses going in opposite directions came into
collision. Thus obstructed in their course several en-
countered on the same point, and the general circulation
being thus obstructed, and the sheriff being no joker
when things were not up to time, angry cries, disputes,
and serious encounters became the unhappy consequence.
Nearly all the wooden houses were in line on the
appointed day ; but as to the reed and branch huts, there
they had to stand, the prey of about twenty merciless
hatchets, under the orders of the sheriff.

My new mission was of large extent. All around
Brownsville swept by a radius of 60 miles, the popula-

222

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

tion was very dense, and for about three hundred miles
northward numerous towns succeeded each other on
the banks of the Rio Grande, as well as several esta-
blishments which it was my duty to visit. I was not
obliged to diverge much from the river, but for a long
way I had to ascend its course. Unlike my former
mission its Catholic population did not consist chiefly of
Germans and Alsacians. Mexicans were my principal
charge, they forming the mass of the population, while
the territory had been lately annexed to the United
States.

In my first mission the vices that Abbe Dubuis and
myself had chiefly to encounter were avarice, roguery,
and drunkenness. In the second, I stood single-handed
against ignorance, superstition, indifference and immo-
rality. True, indigence was no longer my inseparable
associate, but the vices and the incurable indifference
of my flock were enough to break my heart. Besides
I was completely ignorant of Spanish, which was indis-
pensable to my success.

Notwithstanding this latter inconvenience I set about
my reconnoitring visits the day after my arrival, and
my reception was, throughout, warm and cordial. The
truth is, the arrival of a priest is quite an event in
these quarters ; and let me add, Mr. Couthway's good
offices had their full share in procuring for me this
hearty reception. Catholics, Protestants and Jews, all
alike bade me a kindly welcome, and offered their best
services. By these friendly demonstrations I did not
allow myself to be blinded to the fact that such are for
the most part of a personal nature, and go as easily as
they come, the moment the man gives way to the priest.
Nevertheless I accepted these marks of kindly interest

INCREDULITY IN MISSIONARY DEVOTEDNESS. 223

with satisfaction, and promised to avail myself of them
when occasion required.

The great bulk of my parishioners had no idea of the
devotedness of the missionaries, or of the great motive
power that impels them on. It is true that with men
who only value and seek out here below the possession
of money, as a means of procuring the mere animal
enjoyments of life, the heart and soul are closed to
those moral and intellectual sentiments so full of secret,
mysterious joy. The apostolic life, with all its sacri-
fices, sufferings and devotedness, is a book shut up
from them ; and thus they could not realise how I had
a second time travelled over a space of nine thousand
miles, exposed to every peril and fatigue, for the sole
purpose of improving their lives, and instructing them
in their religious duties.

So much trouble, they thought, was poorly repaid in
the object. Many among them who, for reasons I know
not, at once displayed a sympathy for me, and with a
certain interest would inquire : u But what have you
done to be sent here ? "

" No one has sent me ; I have come of my own accord."

" What ! you have not been obliged to quit France
for some grave reasons ?"

" For no reason in life, except to instruct you. If a
priest acts wrong, the church strips him of the power
to exercise his ecclesiastical functions, but she sends him
nowhere.5'

" Then you have come here as soldiers go to war, for
advancement, and to become a bishop ?"

" It is the last of my thoughts. The episcopate is too
heavy a load, and too dangerous a charge to be the object
of my ambition, and good priests never seek or desire it."

224

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Then, as did the disciples of Jesus Christ, they
shook their heads as a mark of incredulity, and thought
within them, " This language is hard to be under-
stood."

By means of those visits I obtained valuable informa-
tion respecting the country and its inhabitants, and was
soon settled down in the business of my mission ; but,
alas ! affairs were far from presenting the colour of
the rose. I frankly avow that I felt alarm at the task
before me. How much labour would it cost me to
implant in these souls, I do not say the very elements of
religion, but even a sense of order, reason and morality !
Still I was aware of how gentle, gracious, and open to
persuasion, were the Mexican people, and I entered on
my task with courage, knowing that heaven would not
fail to send its powerful aids, and that even in the event
of failure, the Master whom I served would take into
good account my efforts and my labour.

225

CHAP. IL

THE BARILLEROS. — THE BAR-ROOM. — FERVOUR OP BROWNSVILLE
PEOPLE. — STATE OP AMERICAN SOCIETY IN GENERAL, AND OF
TEXIAN PN PARTICULAR. APPLICATION OF LYNCH-LAW. — EXECU-
TION.— MORALITY OF THE CIVIC AUTHORITIES. THE SHERIFF.

TWO BLOODHOUNDS AS KEEPERS OF THE PRISON. — THE FREE-
MASONS, AND THE BURIAL OF AN IRISHMAN. THE MAGISTRACY IN

THE NEW STATES OF THE UNION. — PARTIALITY OF THE JUDGES.
— LAW PROCEEDINGS. — ELECTIONS. — A FASHIONABLE DOCTOR.

In paying my visits I was struck with the animation
of Brownsville. I was made to understand that this
was due to a number of Rancheros, or frontier farmers,
who came in every day, either on horseback or in carts,
to buy provisions and make other purchases for them-
selves, their families, and their friends. The streets
were sadly cut up by the constant tread of horsemen,
richly mounted indeed ; by the Arrieros, who loaded and
unloaded their goods; by the Barilleros, called else-
where aguaderos, or water-carriers. These poor fellows
dress almost like the Lazzaroni of Naples. A shirt open
in front and exposing the chest, with the sleeves tucked
up to the shoulders, cotton drawers turned up above
the knees, and sometimes a hat made of palm branches,
make up the entire wardrobe of the Barilleros. It is
they who furnish the inhabitants with water, bring-
ing it from the Rio Grande in casks having two axles
attached to their ends. To these axles is fitted a cord,
by which the Barilleros draw the casks like rollers

Q

226

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

without much fatigue or inconvenience, to escape which
the Mexican seldom fails in ingenuity.

I likewise remarked a great number of people drunk,
sprawling asleep in the sun before the grog-shops where
they get intoxicated. These taverns, called bar-rooms,
are often the theatre of scenes that disgrace human
nature. On one occasion, an Irishman of a respectable
family fell foul of an American merchant naturally of
a quarrelsome temper. The friends on both sides de-
cided that recourse to arms could alone make amends
for the offence. A duel was at once decided upon, and
took place in the very tavern. The Irishman got a
pistol not charged, and of course fell. Such is their
notion of fair play in America.

The greater number of those I saw drunk were
Mexicans who are not much accustomed to spirituous
drinks, and Americans belonging to the temperance so-
cieties. These societies, though numerous in the States,
are far from reducing the number of drunkards; for
though their members promise to abstain from wine,
they nevertheless indulge in other fermented liquors.

The news of my arrival soon spread among the
ranches around Brownsville ; and reckoning upon a
large auditory on the following Sunday, I got my letter
of appointment translated into Spanish, adding a few
words of invitation to my parishioners to come and see
me, that I might thus the sooner learn the spiritual
wants of their different localities. In reality the church
was crowded with Mexicans, Europeans, and Americans,
of every shade of religion. The reading of my letter
gave them satisfaction, and from that day forth I had
numerous visits. During the week, M. and Madame
Garresch£ were the only ones who visited the church.

POPULATION OF TEXAS.

227

The fervour of the Catholics did not go quite so far ; but
I rang the mass bell, said it, and served it for the most
part alone. To try how far religious ceremonies might
attract the people, I organised, in a hurried way, a kind
of choir, and endeavoured to celebrate the month of
May with the ceremonies usual in France. May being
nearly ended, my success was very poor ; for out of a
population containing about ten or twelve thousand,
in the neighbourhood of Brownsville, only twenty-five
celebrated the communion.

At Brownsville, as well as along all the frontiers of
Texas, and I may say the entire extent of this vast State,
and in all the new States of the Union, the population
presents the oddest and most heterogeneous medley to
be met with in the United States. American society
almost defies analysis or description, — so changeful are
its features, so diversified its character. Hence it is
little known. Novelists and historians have sketched
it, but always insufficiently ; for to present a perfect
likeness of a society so unstable and diversified would
be quite impossible. For a certain time in the same
locality the picture might hold ; change time and place,
and it ceases to be a likeness.

Not to speak of the vast regions themselves, at
every point so different in aspect, in climate, in pro-
ductions, in interest, and in internal government,
crowds of European emigrants scatter themselves
every year all over the Union, already a confused
mixture of all nations — Spaniards, Anglo-Saxons,
French, Mexicans. The Americans, strictly so called,
are so unlike each other in their education, tastes, and
ideas, that you would never take them for the same
people ; so that, to comprehend these singular anomalies,

Q 2

228

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

you must bear in mind the constitution of these colonies
before the era of their independence. On one side in-
dividuals remarkable for their acquirements, intelli-
gence, and upright character, who would shine in the
brightest European circles, are met with ; others so
depraved that our very galleys could hardly supply their
equals in crime, or criminal history, monsters more
hideous. Between these extremes, there are to be met
with qualities and vices which supply the pen of the his-
torian with curious details, and develope themselves by
public and singular acts, not alone in the grand political
party questions, but in the minor and local ones of
general and civic administration.

The Americans of the Texian frontiers are, for the
most part, the very scum of society — bankrupts,
escaped criminals, old volunteers, who after the treaty
of Guadulupe Hidalgo, came into a country protected
by nothing that could be called a judicial authority,
to seek adventure and illicit gains. The great towns
of the Union have some kind of police, but along the
frontiers of the new States the law has little sway. It
is evaded or resisted, and there is no armed force to
make it respected.

Before the municipal organisation of Brownsville,
Lynch-law was in full force. The inhabitants were
obliged to have recourse to this extremity as the only
means of providing for their own safety. The judg-
ments of the people, no doubt, had the merit of im-
partiality in the punishment of the guilty; but they
had the one great fault of precipitation, a man being
hung for inflicting a wound, without any inquiry
whether the wound was serious or otherwise.

One evening, during a fandango, an American who

LYNCH-LAW.

229

was half drunk, quarrelled with a Mexican, drew him
out of the dance, and stabbed him in the abdomen.
The Mexican cried murder, and, besmeared with blood,
crawled as far as the ball-room door. At sight of this
unfortunate sufferer, the dancers set off in pursuit of
the American, who had run towards the Rio Grande
in the hope of escaping by swimming across it. But he
was too late. He was arrested as he was on the point
of flinging himself into the river, and, well handcuffed,
he was confined in a wooden hut, under strict vigi-
lance during the night. Next morning, the people were
summoned with sound of trumpet to pronounce sen-
tence. One man (the future sheriff) stepped aside a
little, and without judicial charge or display of oratory
shouted, " Let those who vote for his death step this
way. Let the rest remain as they are." This laconic,
savage address was received with a stunning hurrah !
and the prisoner was condemned to death! The crowd
proceeded at once to the prisoner, whom they placed
on a cart, and the crowd moved on to the shambles,
no gallows as yet being erected. This place, infected
with the blood and remains of slaughtered animals, was
a small space, without roof or shade, roasted by the
sun, and the resort of dogs which fought for the bones
of the animals. It was situated near the church. The
cart stopped beneath the posts that were used to hang
up the slaughtered oxen. The future sheriff seized
the cord, and set about making the fatal noose ; but it
would seem that he was doing the thing unhandily, for
the culprit, whose hands were now set free, said to him,
" Let me do it. You don't know your business." And
seizing the rope, he tied the knot, and put it round his
own neck. Having done so, he thus addressed the crowd :

Q 3

230

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

" Good sirs, listen to wholesome advice. If you
wish never to have the rope about your necks, don't get
drunk. It is drunkenness that has put me into this cart.
Now I have a last favour to ask of you. Do not put
my name in the papers, that my mother may remain as
long as possible ignorant of her son's fate." After
these few words, which made a deep impression on the
crowd, he cried to the horses to move on, and in an
instant his body hung from the posts, where it re-
mained suspended in mid-air for a few minutes ; and the
Mexican who had been stabbed, died early on the follow-
ing day.

Subsequently these executions, which had become of
very frequent occurrence, assumed a more solemn cha-
racter—a minister of religion being present to assist the
criminal. Still barbarism did not divest itself of all its
rights. One day I witnessed the execution of three at the
same time, two Mexicans and an American. The latter in
a mock-fight had fired his revolver at his adversary, while
some one behind him attempted to seize his arm, but the
trigger was pulled, and the ball struck one of the assis-
tants. The clay of the execution the friends of the Ameri-
can, to soothe the pain of his last moments, made the
unfortunate man drunk, and he walked to the scaffold
staggering, humming a ditty, with a cigar in his mouth,
and accompanied by a Presbyterian minister, a Catholic
priest assisting the Mexicans. The ropes being ar-
ranged and the criminals placed on the fatal board, the
Catholic priest knelt down and begged the crowd to pray
for those who were about to suffer. The prayer over,
the Presbyterian minister made a long discourse, during
which the criminals had to wait in suspense before being
launched into eternity. I could never endure those

THE SHERIFF OF LYNCHDOM.

231

horrid tortures of soul, and always contented myself
with accompanying the criminals to the place of execu-
tion, exhorting them on the way with all my strength to
die like true Christians.

In Europe these judicial procedures of Mexico will,
no doubt, be judged with severity ; nevertheless, the
habits of the people are so very different from ours, that
what we judge harsh and cruel, they often regard as
perfectly humane. What shocks our usages, our reason,
and sentiments, seems sometimes, in the solitudes of the
new world, not only quite natural but indispensable ;
for the requirements of these solitudes are in proportion
to their civilisation.

On the frontiers of Texas, where human life is little
valued, the inhabitants have little personal protection
except in their arms. Hence they always go armed.
To put down those evil-doers who would not submit to
the regular organisation of justice, the inhabitants did
not hesitate to entrust the execution of this expeditious
code to officers of the halter, whose antecedents were of
a nature to strike terror into the most intractable. But
were those that deserved it most brought to the gibbet,
the very functionaries would be the first, and they would
be followed by a goodly number of judges, barristers,
and doctors, headed by the sheriff himself.

This was a man of immense stature and of Herculean
proportions. His expressionless features bore the im-
press of cruelty. He carried at his waist a six-barrel
revolver, and in his hand a cow-hide lash, making fre-
quent use of both. Whenever he went in pursuit of
any malefactor it was not certain that he would bring
back his prey ; but it was improbable that the prey
would ever return out of his company. One day that

q 4

232

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

he gave chase to a robber, the plundered dealer in-
quired on his return if he had found his man.

" Yes," the sheriff coolly answered ; " I could not fetch
him back, but it is all the same — he'll steal no more."

Soon afterwards the robber's body was discovered in
a chaparal with a ball in his heart, and half covered
with shrubs and moss. Honest folks could not find a
more energetic officer of justice. As we have seen, the
sheriff made no secret of his exploits, which were noto-
rious, and every succeeding week revealed new feats of
this kind, which, true or false, served to increase his
reputation and render him more terrible to the evil-
doers.

The prison of Brownsville was a small plank cabin,
erected opposite the church, and surrounded by a hedge
of briars. Though all the prisoners were chained down,
many broke their bonds, and escapes were of no rare
occurrence. To diminish their frequency the sheriff
intrusted the prison-gate to the keeping of two blood-
hounds of the bull-dog breed, of proverbial ferocity, such
as chase the negroes, and were employed by the Ame-
ricans against the Indians and in the war of Florida.

Several times as I was returning from attendance on
the sick, and passing in. front of the prison, these dogs
would bound over the hedge in pursuit of me, and I
owed my escapes to my fleetness alone. I went to wait
on the sheriff to inform him of the constant danger I ran
from his dogs, and I begged him to have them chained
at night, or at least to prevent them from getting into
the streets. He laughed heartily at my complaint.
Then I observed —

"My dear Sheriff, I will run no more risks; when
next vour do°;s attack me, I will kill them. When

HOW TO MAKE A Fill END.

233

my path is crossed by a tarantula or a serpent which
attempts to bite me, I make no scruple of crushing it at
once. You are therefore warned." — " Eh ! eh ! indeed."

And he retired with a somewhat incredulous and
defiant air. The opportunity to prove that I spoke
quite seriously was not slow in coming. A few days
after, I was called at about eleven o'clock at night to the
bedside of a dying man. I went with my pistol, as
usual, in my pocket, and my life-preserver (assommoir)
in my hand, prepared for any contingency. Passing
close to the prison I saw the dogs clearing over the
shrubbery hedge, and making towards me ; but I was
quite resolved to make short work of it with them, and
splendid moonlight enabled me to take aim. In two
seconds, I broke the skull of one and the jawbone of
the other, which slunk away yelling horribly. Now at
rest as to the consequences of my nocturnal journeys, I
proceeded to visit the dying man, satisfied that on my
return I no longer ran the risk of being torn to pieces.
Next day the sheriff came to my house, in a great fury,
with the whip in his hand, perhaps resolved to make
goodly use of it. But I watched him closely, for I ex-
pected the visit.

" It was you killed my dogs," he said.

"Yes," I coolly replied; "you had your warning,
which you disregarded — you only laughed at it ; and,
as the proverb says, ' I would rather kill the d — 1 than
be killed by him.7 "

His rage now knew no bounds. He raised his whip
to belabour me, but instantly snatching my pistol from
my pocket, I put the muzzle of it to his breast, and coolly
said, " Sheriff, I am no Mexican ; and if you value your
life treat me as a gentleman."

234

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

My determination had its full effect. He became pale
as death, his lash fell from his hand, his anger ceased,
and he made an attempt to smile.

" Come, Sheriff," I observed, " give me your hand ; let
us be friends."- — " With all my heart !" he replied, and
with that he gave me a vigorous shake of the hands.
" Ah ! you are a man — I am quite pleased with you.
Should any one fail to treat you with due respect, he
shall have to do with me, rest assured of that. 'Sdeath,
cliable, man ! " he then exclaimed, with a rather comical
and half-serious air, " you are more determined than I
thought. Before picking a quarrel with you, a man
should take his measures of precaution." " Ah ! my
dear sir," I replied in the same tone, " your courage,
entre nous, is mighty great before cowards ; but as you
value your personal safety, do not rank me in that cate-
gory, as, when there is question of my honour and of my
rights as citizen and minister of religion, be assured of
it I shall never be intimidated by any man ; and to be
treated with true respect I shall ever have a firm hand
and an unblenching eye."

The sheriff kept his word ; and from this day forward
he showed himself a stanch friend to me.

The Americans, in order to have strangers bow to
their good pleasure, do not hesitate to have recourse to
violence. But they yield with as much readiness the
moment that their menaces, impotent to frighten, are
met with energy of language and attitude.

Let me illustrate this by another personal example.
An. old Irishman, who lived in the United States with his
only daughter, came to Texas to dispose of some land
that belonged to him on the banks of the Eio Grande.
Having realised two or three thousand dollars by the sale,

IRISH FREEMASON'S FUNERAL,

235

he was preparing to return to the United States when
he fell ill at Brownsville, and died in the course of a few
days. Before his death, one of his nephews apprised me
of his illness and begged of me to visit him. I instantly
complied. The dying man was a Freemason, but, anxious
to receive the consolations of religion, he renounced his
Freemasonry before two witnesses, and received the last
sacraments. The nephew observing that the pretended
friends of his uncle were not quitting his bedside — the
money was in the Irishman's trunk — remained near the
corpse. But under pretence that he gave himself up to
drink he was thrown into prison and loaded with irons.
The same day four of the principal personages of the
town and the heads of the Masonic Lodge came to me
and said, the deceased having been a Catholic, they were
anxious that I should perform the burial service with
all due pomp, considering his wealth, and that the
entire Lodge, with its insignia, would assist at the cere-
mony. Having no wish to discuss a question of profane
interest that nowise concerned me, I replied that I was
ready to impart all due solemnity to the service under
the circumstances, but that I could not admit the Lodge
into my church, if they bore the emblems of a society
condemned by the Canons of the Church. I added, too,
that this demonstration of the Lodge was neither con-
sistent nor becoming, as the deceased had renounced Free-
masonry in the presence of witnesses. But those gentle-
men answered that they were the only competent judges
of what was becoming in this business, and that, freely
or by force, they would have the burial according to
their belief. Seeing the conversation assumed the form
of menace, I replied in a similar tone.

" You are aware, gentlemen, from the history of

236

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

the sheriff and his dogs, that I will not be bullied ;
I am master in my own house ; the church is my
domain, and not public property ; no one can enter
it against my will ; in matters of right and duty, I shall
never yield, especially to force ; and take my word for
it, that no Freemason with his emblems shall enter into
the church : he or I shall fall in the attempt. I know
the ways of the country too well to be ignorant, that
the day I should waver in the discharge of my duty
would be only the first of a series of insults and
outrages to myself ; and I respect my coat too much
to dishonour it by mean or cowardly conduct."

"But what is to be done then?" they replied, in a
milder tone. — " Listen to me. I only see two means
of accomplishing your wishes in accordance with eccle-
siastical discipline ; and rest assured that I do not act
from caprice, but from a sense of duty. Were I to
yield to your demands, I might possibly secure your
friendship. In any case, I would have the remuneration
attendant on this ceremony, while, in refusing, I make
for myself enemies of the most influential persons of the
town, and deprive myself of a pecuniary aid which
would not come amiss. Now, then, let this be your
course. Come to the church without the badges of
your society, and I shall allow you in ; for I am not
bound to inquire into personal character before ad-
mission into the temple. Satan himself might come,
were he so minded, as I am not obliged to know his
features in order to keep him out. Should this expe-
dient not meet with your approval, you can go in
procession in due time from the corpse-house to the
cemetery, where I shall be present also to bless the

LIBERTY OF ACTION. MAGISTRACY.

237

grave. Thus I shall have satisfied my conscience, and
the deceased will not be deprived of the prayers of the
Church." This last expedient was adopted as the most
conciliatory, and we parted friends as before.

In the United States, as in Europe, every man is at
liberty to choose what profession he will ; but examina-
tions, diplomas, and certificates of capability are things
unknown there. Each one can at any moment abandon
commerce to become judge, physician, barrister, states-
man, or even minister of religion. If his new pro-
fession is not lucrative enough, or fails in its charms, he
abandons it for another ; and sometimes he is engaged
in several at the same time, especially in the new States
of the Union. The consequence is that the judges, bar-
risters, physicians, representatives, and ministers of re-
ligion, are for the most part incredibly ignorant. When
they enter on their functions they study, as they can,
some easy elementary work on their duties, and then
imagine themselves thoroughly instructed, an illusion
far more dangerous than simple ignorance. Thus,
those who have to place themselves in such hands for
any business whatever, do so only at their imminent
peril.

The magistracy is far from giving adequate guarantees
for the security of the public ; and in criminal matters
it is barefaced as it is revolting. Let the criminal be
an American, and though he were the worst ruffian in
the town he is let off scot-free, with a mere promise to
pay a sum of money, which of course he never pays.
Should the crime be of too glaring a nature to escape
punishment, the perpetrator, be he robber or murderer,
gets off with imprisonment, a mockery in its duration ;

238

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

and he is often enabled to evade all punishment by
leaving the town which has been the theatre of his crime.
This shameless partiality of the American judges is the
best justification of Lynch- law. And hence this Dra-
conian code is in full force in all the new States of the
Union. As to Germans, Irish, and Mexicans, the civil
law is enforced in their cases with all its rigour. Even
frequently, where the crime remained to be proved,
they would in the first instance be thrown into prison
in irons, there to await their sentence, or rather their
condemnation, in which the sentence most generally is
terminated.

Towards the Irish and Mexicans excessive rigour used
to be employed, savouring glaringly of bigotry and
religious hate, which required no stimulus in a sentiment
of cowardly cruelty towards the weak, by whom retali-
ation was impossible. I sa.w at Brownsville Mexicans
whom the sheriff was flogging to death with his ox-hide
lash. They were bound, half-naked, their arms extended
across the prison door, and then scourged on the sides
and loins with the most brutal violence. To save the
expense of their support, pending sentence, they were
not sent to prison, but were sent back untried, having
their frames lacerated with stripes. Some died from
the effects of these barbarities.

I could never comprehend the Mexican's submission,
supporting, as he did, at once the cruelty and the con-
tempt of a nation which he sovereignly detested, had I not
been so often the witness of his incredible nonchalance
and imperturbable meekness. In these badly-organised
regions, the Mexican might have an easy vengeance on
his persecutors, who are quite the minority on the Texian
frontiers ; but vengeance is not in his heart ; he would

PARTIALITY OF AMERICAN JUDGES.

239

rather forget an injury than take the trouble of aveng-
ing it.

Still there is no lack of courts of justice. Some are
stationary and periodical in their sessions ; others are
itinerant, and courts of appeal. Every village, yclept
town, has its magistrates for civil and criminal cases.
Over them is a more important tribunal, which de-
spatches annually a Judge of Appeal to the principal
places of the country of Texas. The man that came to
Brownsville was a large handsome Yankee, neither over
unpolite nor unreasonable. He even decided equitably
enough in the rare moments of his sobriety. I met him
one day, in a tavern, surrounded by Americans, who were
bidding him welcome, glass in hand, and I heard him
propose the following toast in a thick voice:—" To jus-
tice modified by circumstances. " The maudlin auditors
hailed the words with raptures of applause. After this
successful feat he went, as best he could, to dispense
"justice modified by circumstances."

From judges of this stamp, people can hardly expect
" Just Justice" and hence they dispense it for themselves.
When drunkenness is the only defect of a judge, you
may hope, according to the adage " In vino Veritas" that
out of many sentences, some few may be fair, and yours
among the number. But when to drunkenness is added
ignorance of the law, of the nature of a contract, of the
general rules on which property and society itself rest
secure ; and when to drunkenness and this ignorance too,
is further added venality, fear of the strong hand, and
party feeling, then it is only a Mexican, a simpleton,
or a coward, that would appeal to law for justice. The
Americans, and the Europeans who know how things
stand in these still savage regions, dispense with magis-

240 TEXAS AND MEXICO.

trates ; and the dispensers of justice never interfere in
the disputes of such people, knowing well the conse-
quence of their intermeddling.

Property questions were in Brownsville, as in the
greater part of Texas, the prolific source of quarrels and
litigation. In Texas, and especially towards the frontiers,
when you wish to acquire a territory, the simplest and
shortest method is to select one at will near some river
or water-course, and then to install yourself without
further formality. You can take chance for the right
of prescription afterwards. The greater part of the
Kentucky Americans, and of those of the Eastern parts
wrho have established themselves in Texas, are proprietors
by no other right. If need be, the pistol, the carbine,
and the bowie-knife establish the right.

The title of first occupier has an irresistible value in
these countries. It cannot be denied, however, that an
incontestable title is a thing to be found with the greatest
difficulty. Those of Spanish origin are reckoned the
safest ; yet do they too fail to be respected. After
the annexation of Texas to the United States, speculators
furnished themselves with Spanish titles, true or forged
as they might be, to dispose of, both in Europe and in the
United States, immense tracts of land that they had
never seen, and which had been already long occupied.
Besides this, the American government distributed three
hundred and twenty acres of land to emigrants, and six
hundred and forty to school-masters, ministers of religion,
and married colonists, established in Texas before 1847.
After the Mexican war, it made a new distribution to
volunteers and soldiers : but, as the registries of the
civil administration had been kept very negligently, it
happened that among the lands thus distributed, and

ELECTIONEERING IN THE STATES.

241

considered as free, no small share had already its legiti-
mate possessors, and others were uninhabitable from
their situation. Then the new arrivals spread around
the country, settling down wherever they pleased ; and
hence multitudes of law suits, so confused and inter-
minable, were left to the discretion of judges who
decided rather according to the persons of the litigants
than to the justice of the cause. >

Viewing the manner in which the Texian judges are
elected, we cannot be surprised that impartiality is not
considered by them a duty. Towards the close of my resi-
dence, an important case occurred, and made much noise.
It was nothing less than to know whose was the site of
the town. This case was to be heard after the election of
the new judges. The validity of title was quite a se-
condary consideration in an affair of such importance ;
all depended on the number of voters in favour of one
or other of the canvassing parties. Hence no means were
left untried on each side to obtain votes ; and we wit-
nessed a renewal of those singular and tragi-comic
scenes that stir up the population of the United States
on occasions of important elections. Liberty in voting
is, however, recognised in the new as in the older States,
but everywhere is it rendered null and a sham, by force,
intimidation and corruption.

Tables are placed in the streets, garnished with bottles,
full of whiskey, which is liberally distributed to such as
take a ticket bearing the name of a certain candidate.
Those who had formed no opinion, drank freely in both
camps. Both sides had their colours, one red, the other
blue, and no man was without his colour either on his hat
or in his button-hole. The horses and the dogs bore their
colours also, the former on their manes, the latter on their

R

242

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

tails. Even Mexicans who took no interest in either
side, and had merely come on commercial business, were
supplied with the party colours. Things were carried
so far that a supply of palm-leaf hats was procured,
decorated with the distinguishing hues, and given gratis
to such as accepted the tickets. Then came the pro-
cessions, red and blue ; and now the question was which
party would have the longest and most splendid cortege.
As a natural consequence, you might meet every evening
in the streets numbers of electors drunk and battered ;
and not rarely might you recognise among their number
the future magistrates for whom so much fuss was
made, and so many bottles emptied.

Medical science is not much better represented in the
United States than the magistracy. The doctor most in
vogue in Brownsville was a Yankee, who in the time of
the Mexican war had to perform the amputation of a
leg. He knew not how to set about the matter, neither
had he any surgical instruments, wherefore he got a
butcher's saw, and with horrible skill began to saw this
leg as he would a fagot of wood, though he had never
even assisted at an amputation. The patient expired in
the middle of this torturing operation. When Browns-
ville was founded, this doctor thought it desirable to
become porter — a lucrative but tiresome occupation;
but he soon returned to pestle and mortar. He killed so
many, and so quickly too, that he had again to renounce
his profession ; and yet by force of intrigue and audacity,
he got himself named representative to the Congress of
Austin. The session at an end, he returns to Browns-
ville, and, unable to vanquish his fatal penchant for his
early occupation, he becomes doctor again, after conning
over some treatises on medicine. His therapeutic ac-

A FOOL OR A DOCTOR 243

quirements were of such an order, that for a woman who
died of consumption, he prescribed a strong dose of
sulphuric acid, " in order to bum the pulmonary tubercles."
Two days after, I buried the poor woman. For a disease
of the bowels he ordered injections of melted Spanish wax.
His remedies, as well as the exploits of the sheriff,
afforded amusement; but the unfortunate patients could
not be amused by them. Yet was he a la mode, and
took so great a fancy to titles and offices, that at the
next election he stood for the vacant judgeship.

R 2

244

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

CHAP. III.

A WORD OF DOUBLE MEANING. THE MINISTER, AND HIS THREE

UNMARRIED DAUGHTERS. — A RENEGADE. GENERAL AND INDI-
VIDUAL LIBERTY IN THE UNITED STATES. DEMOCRACY. THE

FRONTIER MEXICANS. — VISIT TO MATAMOROS. SOUVENIRS OF OLD

MEXICO. MEXICAN LIFE.—- THE RANCHEROS. TROUBADOURS. —

POESY OF THE PEOPLE. — RELIGION OF THE RANCHEROS. — RELI-
GIOUS CEREMONIES AT THE FRONTIERS MARRIAGE OF THE LAST

SCION OF THE MONTEZ UMAS.

Having spoken of the magistracy and medical science in
the new States of the Union, particularly in Texas, I am
bound to say a few words about my opponents, the
Protestant ministers of the frontier, without fear of being
censured for partiality. The individuals of whom I am
going to speak are no eccentric exceptions of a par-
ticular locality ; they are the types of a class in all these
countries.

I think I have already observed, in the early part of
this journal, that the Methodists and Presbyterians con-
stitute the largest sects among the Americans. Their
ministers are likewise the most ignorant and the most in-
tolerant. Those whom I met at Brownsville were hardly
better adepts at theology than was the doctor, whose
feats I have recorded, in pathology and therapeutics.
The Methodist minister, for want of an audience, left
the frontier shortly after my arrival at Brownsville.
The Presbyterian was hardly more fortunate ; for he
alienated the minds of his co-religionists by equivocal
conduct in a rather serious case. For want of a church he

CLERICAL DUPLICITY.

245

had to preach in his own house, which was constructed of
very slight boards. One day he proposed to his hearers
to erect a brick building large enough to accommodate
all the Presbyterians of the town ; the project was
agreed to ; and for its prosecution he received three
thousand dollars. But instead of building a chapel, as
his parishioners expected, he made himself a very
elegant house, in which himself and his large family
were lodged most comfortably. The word house had a
double meaning which the Presbyterians did not forget
to him. Henceforth he was completely abandoned— his
family and a few friends now constituting his entire
auditory. His discourses were for the most part
diatribes against the Pope and Papacy, subjects highly
relished by the Presbyterians, as already observed. At
the time of the siege of Matamoros, of which by and
bye, he remained two entire hours on his knees on the
roof of his new house, his hands stretched forth like
those of Moses on the Mount, imploring the protection
of heaven on the arms of the invaders. Notwithstand-
ing his hatred of Catholic priests, he never was hostile
to me personally ; whenever I met him in the street,
I saluted him, and he politely returned my greeting.

One of his confreres, more lucky than himself in
pecuniary matters, had three daughters, who for years
past were of an age to be married. The minister seeing
no one propose for their hand, determined to wait no
longer in the matter of their settlement in the world.
With this view, he put in execution an idea essentially
American. One Sunday he preached on the subject of
marriage, amplifying the text in Genesis, " Increase and
multiply." He proclaimed to his audience that this was
a Divine precept and not a counsel. He descanted with

E 3

246

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

eloquence and warmth on the bliss of the hymeneal
state, and ended his sermon by offering his three
daughters, with three thousand dollars of fortune for
each, to whomsoever would espouse them. He added
that he would receive the names of the candidates after
service ; and that his choice would fall on those who
would furnish the surest guarantee of moral character.
A wag of an Irishman who happened to be present
(they are always everywhere), did not wait for the time
prescribed by the minister to make his voice heard,
but asked him to put his name on the list for two.
The meeting burst into laughter ; and there was no
rival found to the ambitious aspirant.

There was also at Brownsville a renegade who kept a
school for boys and girls. He received from the Bible
Society of New York an annual sum of five hundred
dollars, to distribute bibles and pamphlets abusive of
Catholicism among the Mexican population. Though
I bore him no ill-will, he treated me with no kindred
feeling. He hated me by instinct, and proved his hatred
at the first opportunity. Several pious Catholics came
to complain that this renegade taught Protestantism in
his school, and was striving to corrupt the faith of the
Catholic children. I waited upon him, and begged that
he would confine his instructions within the domain of
letters, otherwise, I said, I should be obliged in con-
science to warn the parents, and thus the Catholic
children would be all removed. He gave me a very
ungracious reception, and went the length of menace.
The families were consequently warned, and the children
were sent to another school, taught by a Mexican. My
friend, quite enraged as he became, went to the public
market-place on the next Sunday, and held forth against

AMERICAN FREEDOM.

247

all priests in general, and myself in particular, — becom-
ing eloquent on idolatry, the inquisition, and what not in
this strain. He continued his sermons a month, and
got them printed. At length, however, he lapsed into
silence, for his harangues had no effect. I was liked in
my parish. From the day of my arrival, I was placed
on a footing of freedom and independence that secured
me the esteem of the people ; hence it was no easy matter
for him to do me harm. As to that, indeed, Protestant
ministers are no great obstacle to the propagation of
Catholicism in Texas ; for they are always too violent
against us missionaries, and violence is never an effica-
cious means.

If isolated individuals present striking types, inter-
esting as studies of manners, the general character and
spirit of the population are not a whit less curious, as
they reveal themselves in all their naked reality in public
assemblies and political discussions.

In America, as you are free in the choice of a pro-
fession, so are you in the expression of political opinion.
Hence, since the invasion of Cuba by the Americans,
under General Lopez, agitators have multiplied demon-
strations, and pushed on enlistments. In Texas these
manoeuvres were quite easy ; for individuals ready for
enrolment for any expedition, and for casting the die of
life in the hope of pillage, have been always numerous.
There have been at Brownsville several meetings, where
all Americans were invited to pronounce on the great
question of the hour. Some few, moderate and upright
in their views, endeavoured to speak against the illegality
of this usurpation ; but a score of pistols were aimed at
their heads, to keep their tongues more quiet.

At the risk of offending the blind and prejudiced

r 4

248

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

admirers of the United States, I affirm, with those
writers who have studied impartially the history of
that country, from the date of its independence to our
own days, that, dating from the presidency of General
Jackson, liberty has not reigned in the United States
but in a very limited and relative way. The republic,
as founded by Washington, can only be recognised in
its outward forms. It is not a democracy that rules —
it is demagogy. The opinion and will of the masses,
ignorant, vicious, intolerant, passionate as they are,
sway by pressure, violence, corruption and lawlessness.
It is the blind masses that are everywhere masters at
elections, and their vote, ever guided by a name or an
idea, is never bestowed on probity and intelligence in
matters of government. Hence, from the country
magistrate to the President of the Union, every place is
the prize of a vote. Vice reigns uncontrolled ; you
would say it was protected, especially in the new States ;
but there is very little personal security for the peaceful
man, for the virtuous and the independent, in his
political and religious opinions. Americans must have
a clear stage for themselves, but to others they would
not extend the smallest latitude. What American
would dare to say to his countrymen, "You are in creed
the most superstitious people on earth ; in politics the
most inconsistent, if not intolerant ; in opinion the most
despotic ; in science, arts, and civilisation, the most
behind ; in morals the most corrupt ; in liberty the
slave of a popular despotism ; towards your black and
coloured slaves, the most pitiless and barbarous ? " No
citizen would now dare to use this language, though
many believe it; for those who, seeing the work of
Washington falling to pieces, have striven to point out

YANKEE ITCHING FOR ARISTOCRACY.

249

to their countrymen by word and pen the abyss towards
which they were rushing, have dearly paid for their
upright patriotism. Persecutions, blows, fire, have been
their reward.

What a strange anomaly ! Europeans, political his-
torians and novelists, who have never lived in the
United States, have said a good deal about the demo-
cracy of the country. If it exist, it is not the fault of the
Americans, for they do their best to become aristocrats
themselves. Equality is much less palatable there than
people think in Europe. Take at random, even in the
new States, on a steamer or in the street, any two men,
and ask each what he is, you will find him captain,
major, colonel, general, judge, esquire (Heaven knows
of what). None will be a simple citizen.

These are the impressions that will be made on keen
conscientious observers, who may study the manners
and character of the people with a view to be in-
structed. Rest assured that those who observe things
in a different light have fixed notions formed before-
hand, or else have lived too short a time in the country
to master its true character. American manners, as
illustrated in Brownsville, did not engross my exclusive
attention. The picture that I have drawn of this
singular population, a picture, alas ! but too true, was a
forewarning to me of the difficulties which I had to
encounter in the discharge of my ministry. Side by
side with the Yankees, there was, as I have said, a very
numerous Mexican population. Among the frontier
Mexicans I found a stolid ignorance to remove, reli-
gious views to be modified and ceremonies to be purified
from every heterogeneous alloy opposed to the solemnity
of Catholic worship. The task was no easy one, for the

250

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

people stuck fast to their usages, which had in their
favour all the strength of long observance. Yet was I
not discouraged. I knew that the Mexican people, not-
withstanding their faults and indifference, are docile and
intelligent, and that if Heaven deigned to bless my efforts
and fatigues, I might be the instrument of diffusing some
little happiness over this corner of the earth, to which
Providence had sent me. I knew that with God we can
do all things ; without Him, nothing. I reckoned on His
aid to overcome the obstacles that stood in the way of
the pure light of the Gospel ; and my confidence in
God was not vain. With a certain sweetness of
manner, and a toleration of whatsoever was free or
permissible ; an impartiality and charity, in my rela-
tions with those of different religious persuasions,
caste, or character ; with energy and firmness in the
discharge of my duty, I soon perceived that there was a
means of taming and bending all these different
natures, half savage and wholly ignorant though they
were.

The great bulk of the Americans who live on the
banks of the Rio Grande, from its mouth to Passo del
Norte, even those of the towns, are of Indian or Indo-
Mexican origin. The Spanish race is quite in a
minority on those frontiers. They are of middle height ;
their features are for the most part regular, sometimes
distinguished and noble ; their eyes are large and bright,
their hair long, black, curled, and frizzly, their skin
brown, but soft, their teeth very white and beautiful,
their hands and feet very small, their visage round.
They are mild, passive, and apathetic. The Mexican's
chief passion is his horse, the play, and the dance ; cock
and bull-fi£ktin£ are his delight. Among the amateur

MEXICAN LIFE AND CHARACTER.

251

taureadors are found even women, who know how
to bring down the bull with dexterity, grace, and bold-
ness. I saw three of them at Matamoros, whom no
small number of bulls valiantly prostrated had ren-
dered almost celebrities.

To obtain a more accurate idea of Mexican life, I
visited Matamoros, which is situated in Mexico opposite
Brownsville. My ministry might one day or other
bring me in contact with the parish priest, the autho-
rities, and the inhabitants, among whom are reckoned
several French and American merchants. Matamoros
is not far from the river, and is the most important
town of the frontier. I begged the Mexican consul at
Brownsville to act as guide and introducer. This
worthy representative of his country placed himself
without demur at my disposal, accompanying his good
services with a cigarette, which I quietly puffed while
I asked him questions about the persons that I intended
to visit. A few strokes of an oar took us to the
opposite bank, where a shed is erected as a shelter for
the custom house agents and some soldiers. These
soldiers were dressed in brown, and wore a police cap,
which admirably harmonised with their yellow, round,
and beardless faces, and gave their mien more of the
savage than of the soldier. The officers were well clad
and had a very distingue air. These soldiers sleep
nearly the entire day in a grove of the palma Christi
planted near the shed. Judging from this specimen of
Mexican soldiery, I was not surprised at the success
of the American arms directed against them ; but the
cavalry have a more martial appearance. They have
the stamp of being congenial to the soil, a feature not
the least important or interesting of its character.

252

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

My heart bounded with joy as I trod this wonderful
soil, abounding in silver and gold, blessed with a climate
the most delicious on earth and a vegetation the most
luxuriant. I felt all the poetry of youth spring up
within me, inspired by the memory of the Spanish con-
quests in this rich and beautiful land. Imagination
carried me back to the days of Cortez and good Las
Casas, the apostle of the Indians, whose woes he so ably
pleaded and bitterly bewailed. I repeopled, in thought,
Palenca, the city of the desert, the ruins of which, dis-
covered in the midst of a virgin forest, not quite a
century ago, still cover a surface of eight leagues ; and
Mitla, the city of the dead, hardly inferior in extent to
Palenca. I saw crowds from Cicimecos, Toltecs, Aztecs,
and Tlaxcallians going to Papeutla, to Teocalli, and other
immense temples of Yucatan, of Teotihuacan, of Ana-
huac, of Cholula, and of Tenuctitlan (now called Mexico),
to offer sacrifices to Yiltzlipultzi, the supreme God ;
to Tlaloch the god of vengeance, and their Neptune; to
Ametochtli, their Bacchus, who carried on his head a
vessel of mortar-shape into which they poured wine ;
to Quetzalcoat, their Mercury; to Matlalmy, goddess of
water, who was represented in an undress of azure hue ;
to Tescatlipuca, god of providence, who wore glasses to
see better with. But empires are blotted out and
disappear like individuals. New times, new manners.
Feather cinctures and pearl collars have been replaced
by a less primitive costume. Time carries off every day
another stone from these immense ruins of a people
itself not less immense than they, whose ancient civi-
lisation has left gigantic manuscripts of marble and
granite, which defy the eye and mind of modern science.
While my imagination thus carried me back to the days

\

MATAMOROS AND ITS INHABITANTS. 253

when Mexican currency was cacao-nut, I was seated in
a vehicle. Several were stationed in this spot, and two
light and spirited horses whisked us over the short mile
that separated us from the town in a few minutes and
deposited us in the Plaza-Major.

This place is a perfect square, embellished with a
garden in the centre, and encompassed with a double
range of large Chinese lilacs forming a pleasing prome-
nade. The western side of this square is formed by the
church, a modern edifice, vast in its proportions, but pre-
senting nothing remarkable in structure. Opposite the
church are the buildings and offices of the Ayuntamiento.
The houses, like those of the other two sides of the
square, are simple in their architecture, of red brick,
two stories high, and furnished with an iron balcony.
The roofs are flat, forming a terrace which serves rather
as a place for drying clothes than for family gathering.
Behind the houses are gardens more or less extensive,
where the orange-tree, the pomegranate-tree, the peach-
tree, the palm-tree, the fig-tree grow. The streets are
wide and at right angles.

During the greater part of the day all seems a desert.
The shops are half closed and every one remains within
doors. But at the first sound of the Ange^us, a little
before sunset, the windows and doors are thrown open,
the streets fill, the ladies appear on the balconies in robes
of bright muslin, the Plaza-Major is crowded with prome-
naders who saunter about, chat, laugh, and smoke till
midnight. All is animation ; the merry laugh and
joyous word re-echo all around ; the rich man on his
balcony, the poor on his cabin sill, feel happy alike to
live and to shake off the inaction of the day, while the
cigarette sends up its tiny cloud in every direction.

254

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Everywhere do chocolate and coffee with little cakes
present their allurements with the balm of the evening
air. The chatting becomes more noisy ; and it would
seem that people wish to make up for lost time, for dur-
ing the day little is spoken. You would say that the sun
stays the words on the lips and deprives of the power
to pronounce them. The conversations turn mostly on
poetry, on religion, on love, horses, music and dancing.
Scandal and politics engage but little this sequestered
people, favoured with a sky the most beautiful, a climate
the mildest in the world.

My first visit was to the parish priest, a charming young
man, who employed his private fortune and the revenues of
his parish, for the succour of the poor and the completion
of his church. He received me with warmth and cordi-
ality, and offered me his services with a flowing heart.
The prefect and civil authorities also loaded me wTith polite
attentions. I ended my visits by paying one to the com-
mander of the frontier Mexican forces, General Avalos,
who had then an immense influence in the government of
the country. This man, of whom I shall say more by
and bye, was enormously corpulent. He seemed to me
false and crafty, while his person inspired me with
aversion, and subsequent events proved the justice of
my first impressions.

On both banks of the Rio Grande, the Mexicans who
do not live in towns or sell merchandise are rancher os
(farmers). Ranch o, which means farm, is often taken for
a number of farms or a village. The country people are
just as indolent as their countrymen of town. They
have all the characteristics and all the defects of an
infant people. Voluptuousness is surely their damning
vice ; but it is not so much the effect of depraved

RANCHERO LIFE.

255

morals, as of ignorance and effeminacy. I could never
know how a ranchero lived, for he labours little or
none ; the very shadow of labour overpowers him, and he
comprehends not activity, save in pleasures. In other
respects, he is very frugal ; under this mild and temperate
sky, he can sleep wherever he will ; in open air, under
the shade of the fig tree, or mesquite tree, more agree-
ably than under the shelter of a roof. He lives on
coffee, chocolate, tortillas, small flat cakes baked on the
ashes or on heated flags ; and on tassajo, beef sun-
dried and cut up into slices which keep a long time.
The rich rancheros enjoy the luxury of rice, spices,
lamb dressed with dried raisins, sometimes even the
tarn ales, a favourite dish of the Mexicans, a mixt ure
of chopped meat, vegetables, spices, and dried fruits,
rolled up in the shape of a cigar and dressed in a maize
leaf. At Tampico and in the greater number of the
towns of the interior, young girls prepare and sell
tamales in the markets. After the mid-day repast, the
Mexicans have their siesta, which lasts according to the
season several hours.

When the ranchero is not either resting or amusing
himself, he mounts his horse and canters over the
plains and through the woods, to see his herds, to visit
his friends, to buy provisions, or assist at a feast, a
baptism, a marriage, or join in the fandango ; but
the ranchero never walks. Had he only half a mile
to go, he does so on horseback. His horse, of which
he is very proud, is his inseparable companion. He is
content with a wretched hut for his residence, while he
decorates his saddle and bridle with gold and silver
ornaments. At home he is all filth, mounted on his
horse he wears the gayest attire. Then he dons his broad-

256

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

brimmed hat, lined with green and trimmed with an
edging or chain of gold. He wears a clean embroidered
shirt, and blue velvet trousers with broad facings of
black, beneath which, through the extremities, may be
seen his wide white drawers, while a blue scarf of china
crape encircles his waist, and huge silver spurs clank at
his heels. The ranchero tills the soil to some extent,
but herds of oxen, horses, goats, and sheep make up
the bulk of his fortune. This kind of income costs him
little labour ; and therefore does he like it so much. The
pasture lands are rich, fair, and numerous ; and the cattle
roam over them at large. From time to time the ranchero
goes to see them, to know what horse he may sell at the
next fair in order to buy dresses for his children's god-
mothers— what oxen will furnish most tassajo, and
what lamb will meet the expense of a marriage or
baptism -feast.

Many of the rancheros, without the slightest instruc-
tion in music, play the guitar or mandoline with no less
taste than talent. With this accompaniment sometimes
they sing their native melodies and romances, which
relate chiefly to love subjects, the beauties of tropical
nature, or the memories of their forefathers. There are
several ballads of the old Spanish troubadours still in
great vogue. It was often my pleasure to hear the
rancheros sing in the evenings near the hut where I
was taking rest, during my excursions in the solitudes
of the interior. Their voices are sweet and their songs
racy with the poetry of nature. The greater part of their
nights they pass in dancing, singing, relating fantastic
stories as history, while they smoke their cigarettes be-
neath some favourite tree. During the long winter even-
ings, while sitting on the prairie grass, I have obtained

SENTIMENTAL MEXICAN.

257

some scraps of precious interesting information listening
to some of these narrators. You still meet in this part of
the frontiers a kind of itinerant troubadour who goes
from rancho to rancho, singing to the accompaniment
of the mandoline, setting the young folk to dance, telling
about all he has heard and seen in his travels, and as
payment receiving hospitality and a few reals.

What chiefly characterises the country Mexican is
extreme meekness of disposition — apathy, listlessness,
carried to amiability. You also discern in his character
a most lively appreciation of the beauties of nature. On
a fine summer night I was reclining on my hammock
beneath a gallery of boards and wild osier which I had
built up against the presbytery. From my hammock I
could gaze on a pretty garden which I had laid out dur-
ing my leisure hours ; and to the rear of this garden I
could also observe that of Fort Brown. Isidore, an old
Mexican soldier and my man of all work — cook, butler,
sacristan — came and seated himself beside my hammock,
and while with cool nonchalance he purled clouds of
azure smoke from his cigarette, he in a loud tone, and
heedless whether I slept or not, directed towards me
the following monologue on the beauties of the heavens
and the earth. " See, Seiior Don Emanuel, what a
charming night it is ! what sweet mellow temperature !
what pure and balmy air! what silence in all nature !
how this silence of night ravishes my soul ! Do you
hear the cry of the widow (a long-tailed bird), as she
Hies along and flutters in the distance ? Whither
does she roam, poor bird ? Why does she not sleep
beneath the thick broad shade of the ebony tree ?
Mystery of God ! " added he, and lapsed into a pro-
found reverie. In an instant he resumed : " Do you

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258

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

see those myriads of stars whose twinkling splendour
lights the plains like the timid doubtful twilight? And
those majestic palm trees, whose graceful branches
gently poise themselves against the clear blue sky,
seeming as if at night time they bear fruit of fire, sus-
pended from every branch? And those stars that fall
and fade away, leaving behind them a light narrow
cascade of diamonds ? Oh ! how wonderful are the
works of God !"

This was not the first time I had thus heard those
poor people speak. Yet how few of them can read or
write. I was wrapt in amazement and delight at the
poetic rapture of my old soldier ; indeed I could not
have conveyed my own feelings better, at the view of
this picture, at once so simple and sublime, of one of the
most charming nights at the tropic.

Novel writers and tourists have greatly exaggerated
the faults of the Mexicans. These gentlemen get up
adventures at will ; stories of robbers and bandits,
from whose hands, however, they always escape safe
and sound ; intrigues wherein the poignard and a dark
mystery play their parts. Such things as these no
doubt impart a certain interest to a recital ; but truth
obliges me to say, that these dramatic stories are not
to be relied on. It is true there are many robbers
among the poorer Mexicans, but they rob from neces-
sity, and do so in a very clumsy way. As to all that
people talk about assassinations in Mexico, it is charac-
terised at once by exaggeration and inaccuracy. A
murder is commonly the consequence of what begins in a
playful quarrel. The vengeance of an injured husband
does not arm him with the knife, for he is no jealous
husband, but allows his helpmate as much liberty as

THE RANCHEROS.

259

lie assumes for himself. At Brownsville, and along the
entire Texian frontier, murder is very common ; but if
the Americans have just claim to the credit of half of
them, and if we only reflect on how they have treated the
Mexicans, we shall be rather surprised that the Mexican's
vengeance is so easily satisfied. As to crime, however,
we need only say, that neither Europe nor America need
be jealous of Mexico.

As to religion, the rancheros had only vague ideas
about it, with some obscure recollections. They hardly
knew more than two sacraments, baptism and matri-
mony, and they made no scruple of dispensing them-
selves from the latter, while they valued confession only
at the hour of death. Marriage was divided into two
distinct ceremonies, one of which, corresponding with our
espousals, was called las tomadas de las manos, the taking
of hands. This was the simple marriage. The other
was the more important and definitive act, called velacion.
At this ceremony the spouses are covered with a veil,
and the priest recites prayers over them. The spouses,
their parents, and the witnesses carry lighted tapers,
called vela, in allusion to the very name of the cere-
mony. Then the bridegroom deposits on a plate a
few coins ; the priest blesses them, and gives them
back to him, and he hands them to the bride as the
price of her liberty. In reality, this ceremony is
regarded by the rancheros as the true sacrament of
marriage. Frequently married people called on me to
marry them to others, pretending that they had been
united only by the " taking of hands."

The funerals of children were always accompanied
with public rejoicings. The angelito (little angel), as
they called the remains of the young person, was

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260

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

dressed in white and ornamented with flowers; and some-
times wings were added, with a crown of gilt paper.
The dressing ended, the remains were placed on a chair
or under a table, covered with white linen, and strewn
with votive flowers. A friend or parent took the light
burthen on his head or shoulders, while a procession
was formed to the church, and preceded by a band com-
posed of a big drum, a violin, and a clarionet, which
pla}^ed polkas, waltzes, and contradanses. The pro-
cession was followed by a crowd of urchins, pelting
squibs and rockets, and laughing like young demons
as their missives fell on the parents or their invited
friends.

But if neither the belief nor the practice of the
rancheros was without reproach, the fault was not
entirely theirs. Before the war of Mexican Independence,
the most isolated villages and inhabitants had visits
from the Spanish missionaries regularly enough, though
the great distance made those visits both few and far
between. These missionaries could only impart the
most elementary instruction, accommodating them-
selves to the understanding of their little flocks, so as to
strike the senses by the form of worship, rather than
open the mind by instructions more complete. The
ceremonies of the Church used to borrow from time
and place certain peculiar features to which those
people attached great interest and importance. It is
much easier to go to church and join a procession than
to reform one's life. As the Spanish missionaries
ceased their visits, all pertaining to doctrine and mo-
rality fell into the shade. Ignorance, indifference, the
passions, soon made the lessons of the priest to be for-
gotten ; but what struck the senses was more tenacious

MONTEZUMAN BRIDE.

261

of its hold. The substance was lost in the form, and
external practices, as is natural to the Mexicans, be-
came the chief objects of attention — the most worthy of
the affection of a poor people. This religious decadence
was a sad sight ; but by God's grace aiding the energy of
man, many obstacles are being overcome. My task at
Brownsville, though more fatiguing, was not so irksome,
however, as at Castroville.

I had the honour to bless the marriage of the living
descendant of Montezuma with a rich proprietor of the
state of Cohahuila. She was twenty-four years old ;
her features were quite handsome, very regular, noble,
and withal sweet ; her gait easy and listless. The
olden glory of her race revealed itself in her entire
figure. I asked her some questions about her position.
She told me she was an orphan, without a relative even
to the remotest degree ; and that of all the wealth of
her house nothing remained to her but some lands in
Texas. These lands were of vast extent it is true ; but
since the annexation of Texas to the United States,
her right to proprietorship had been contested and
assailed in a variety of ways.

She had been offered 6000 dollars for her inheri-
tance, and fearing to be stripped of all, she accepted
this miserable sum, and married the man she loved.
Such is the simple history of the last heir of a great
name, of the last scion of that great and powerful
monarch whose treasures knew no bounds, and who
perished the victim of the cruel cupidity of the Spanish
conquerors. She went with her husband to continue in
obscurity, her existence unknown, indeed, to the world,
but withal peaceful and happy.

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262

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

CHAP. IV.

A TOUR OF OBSERVATION. THE BANKS OF THE RIO GRANDE.

REYNOSA REYNOSA-VIE JA. — AN ISRAELITISH BEDFELLOW. — RIO

GRANDE CITY. PROJECTS. MEETING A RATTLE-SNAKE. — ROMA.

THE ALAMO. THE BATHERS. MIER. EMBARRASSING PRESENTS.

■ — A USEFUL APPARITION. DEPARTURE FROM ROMA. TETE-A-TETE

WITH NEW INDIANS. CAMARGO. — A SURPRISE. RANCHERO

MARRIAGE. SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP. THE AURORA IN A WOOD.

A month after my arrival at Brownsville, having made
some progress in speaking Spanish, I undertook a tour
of observation among the populations scattered along
both banks of the river. I had to penetrate northward
as far as a small American settlement called Alamo,
from Brownsville about three hundred miles. I em-
barked on the steamboat Comanche, which was to ascend
the river with merchandise for several settlements
along its banks.

The Kio Grande, as I have already said, takes its
rise at the foot of the Sierra Verde, one of the two
great southern ramifications of the Rocky Mountains.
It drains and fertilises an immense valley for several
hundred leagues in its southern course, and before dis-
emboguing into the Gulf of Mexico, it makes a thousand
windings. Sometimes, on occasions of great floods,
the sand is carried down in masses, and opens for the
waters new beds, while the old thus detached become
lakelets, often very graceful in their aspect. The banks
are flat, and more wild, indeed, than picturesque.

TOUR OF OBSERVATION.

263

Some woodlands, rather sparse of trees ; tracts covered
with long dry grass or reeds ; numbers of reeds ; some-
times a tract of fine white sand, in which the scattered
herds of cattle, that come to slake their thirst in the
stream, lie half buried while they ruminate ; or steep,
low banks, constantly eaten into by the water ; here
and there the little hut of a ranchero, whence issued a
thin spiral of white smoke ; such were the principal
features that successively relieved the monotony of these
cheerless solitudes.

In the day time the heat was quite suffocating — we
were smothered in an atmosphere of fire. In the
evening we would take our mattresses to the after-deck,
to enjoy the freshness of the night breeze. After
three or four days of uninterrupted steaming, the boat
stuck so effectually, that no exertion could get her off.
The captain had to discharge her cargo, in order to
lighten her, and set her afloat. All of us disembarked,
and were obliged to pursue our journey by land. This
mishap modified my itinerary in a rather singular way.
To reach Alamo by land, I had to travel more in
Mexico than Texas, for this part of the Texian frontier
is quite destitute of roads. In Mexico, on the con-
trary, you have still the old Spanish highways ; so that
often the shortest and even the only route between
two Texian ranchos is to cross the Rio Grande and
travel the Mexican territory, and to recross the Rio
Grande again near one's destination. Here, then, I
was going to make one of those long journeys on horse-
back, to which I had been so much accustomed during
my first mission ; but in this I had fewer dangers and
privations to encounter.

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2G4

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

We first directed our course towards the Mexican
hamlet of Keynosa. These small frontier towns present
but little interest. The church of Reynosa is of stone,
of oblong shape, having a massive steeple, square in
form, and heavy-looking in construction. Some houses
are built as in the time of Fernand Cortez, with adauhes,
large bricks baked in the sun. Here we crossed the
Rio Grande for Texas, where we secured horses in an
American establishment called Edinburgh.

Having taken a modest breakfast, we returned to
Reynosa, the Spanish priest of which procured us a
guide, and we continued our journey under a scorching
sun. The road was lined sometimes with odoriferous
trees and the perfumed wild vine ; sometimes it inter-
sected an arid desert soil, or calcareous tracts, whose
only vegetation was the cactus, the nopal, or certain
plants full of thorns and destitute of leaves : neither bird
nor animal appeared to enliven either with song or
gambol these burning solitudes.

My fellow travellers were Jewish merchants, Me-
thodists, and free-thinkers. I could not escape one of
those religious controversies so much sought after in
America ; but so much were we overpowered by the
heat, that no one entered warmly into discussion.
The words died on our lips, without our having the
power to articulate them. The horses jogged along
slowly in single file like geese. Perspiration issued
abundantly from every pore, and trickled down our
bodies. AVe could scarcely breathe, so that at last we
wrere obliged to await the freshness of the evening
breeze.

At length the trees assumed a reddish tint, the
shadows became longer while they turned eastward, the

OLD REYNOSA.

265

leaves gently oscillated in the rising breeze, and the
crowing of a cock and the lowing of herds announced
a rancho. We had arrived at Reynosa Vieja, which
was a large square formed by the huts of the principal
inhabitants. Each angle terminated a roadway car-
peted with light tufted grass. The environs were w^ell
cultivated ; and the population of this immense rancho
lived in ease and comfort. At the time of our entrance,
men and cattle were enjoying the refreshing breeze, here
and there beneath the trees that lined the court and
the pathways.

We went to take up our quarters in the outer
court of one of the most wealthy proprietors of Rey-
nosa Vieja. Our horses were unsaddled and secured
for the night, before no stinted quantity of maize
straw, one of the best descriptions of fodder in the
country. While supper was getting ready, one of
my fellow travellers introduced me to several rich
rancheros. Everywhere they received us with un-
affected cordiality, offering us cigarettes, chocolate,
and little delicious honey-cakes. It was in this rancho
that I learned for certain that the Mexicans used to
bury their money when they had no immediate use for
it. It was a habit peculiar to the old Spaniards ; and
in the towns, as well as in country places, you often
meet with vessels full of dollars and doubloons, hidden
in the walls or under the trees. The population of
Reynosa Vieja, numbering, as it did, certainly not fewer
than one hundred families, was left almost entirely to
itself in the matter of religion. It had hardly ever a
visit from a priest, for the people had to go to Reynosa
in cases of marriage and baptism, and they died without
sacraments. I also learned that several families scat-

266

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

tered all over these frontiers were in the same sad
condition.

An hour after our arrival, one of the guides came
to announce supper, which consisted of boiled fowl,
rice, and dried raisins, all dressed with pepper and other
spices. The tortillas supplied did the duty at once of
spoon and of bread. This supper was refreshing enough,
and at its close we were each fortunately served with
a cup of milk. We had the good luck to find some
mattresses in the rancho, and these we stretched out in
the outer court ; but not having quite enough of them,
we were obliged to take each man a bed-fellow. Mine
was a young Jew of the name of Moses, who, before fall-
ing asleep, said to me, while he laughed,

" Have you suspected that you are going to sleep with
a Jew?"

" No. And you, have you dreamt that your bed-
fellow is a Cat holic priest ? "

" Not the remotest idea of it ; you now inform me for
the first time."

u Think you, then, that our slumbers will be the less
tranquil ? "

" Certainly not."

" Well, then, good night."

"Goodnight."

And I soon heard him snorting like a steam-engine
just getting under way. As for me, notwithstanding
the fatigue of a long journey on a bony horse, under a
burning sun, sleep I could not. I saw glittering over
my head those myriads of stars that I so often gazed upon
with admiration during my first peregrinations. Among
the constellations I looked out for the Shepherd, which
in my boyhood in France I loved so to gaze upon, when

RIO GRANDE CITY.

267

nature, shrouded in the mysterious veil of twilight, had
only this solitary star twinkling overhead to light its
track. The palm branches beneath which I lay gently
vibrated in the air; the temperate breeze, breathing
gently as it came, embalmed by the sweet odours of the
woodland flowers, carolled in the distance, while it
imparted to the sycamore leaves a voice of song
strange and full of harmony resembling the melancholy
sighs of many iEolian harps. I breathed these evening
perfumes with the utmost delight, and listened atten-
tively to the languishing murmuring of leaf and breeze,
cut short at intervals by the plaintive cry of the widow
bird as she hopped from tree to tree. At length I fell
asleep wrapped in golden dreams.

We were awakened before daylight by the neighing of
our horses, already saddled by the guides, and set out
notwithstanding the darkness, which scarcely allowed
us to see our way before us. From Reynosa Vieja to
Camargo the route is forced with no small difficulty
through acacias, nopals, brushwood, all quite thick set
in these quarters. Towards midday we halted again, to
bait our horses and have some refreshments ourselves.
Goat's milk was the entire bill of fare of our dinner.
We reached Camargo, but instead of halting there, we
struck out to the right, by a narrow pathway winding
through a thick woodland, which brought us opposite
the Rancho Davis. Again we crossed the Rio Grande,
here both wide and deep, for it is, after receiving several
tributaries — the Rio de San Juan, the Rio Alamo, and
the Salado — further enlarged by the Rio Sabinos, which
comes down from the Sierra Madre.

The Rancho Davis is now better known under the
name of the Rio Grande City. It is a vast assemblage of

268

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

American stores and Mexican huts, where smuggling pro-
gresses on an extensive scale. The Mexican government
cannot afford for it a sufficient number of soldiers and
customs officers ; and hence the productions of the United
States make their way into Mexico with little difficult}7.
Thus do the American dealers at the Rancho Davis
realise immense fortunes. The United States govern-
ment supports at Rio Grande City two or three com-
panies of the regular army, whose quarters are to the
south of the city. The barracks, depot stores, officers'
houses and gardens cover an area of several acres. I
had letters of introduction to the Commandant of the
fort and to the doctor, and presented them at their
addresses ; but being an eyewitness of the barbarous
treatment that the Irish Catholic soldiers are now sub-
jected to, I left with disgust, and never again set foot in
the garrison. I saw an Irishman dying in chains in his
bed ! ! !

The town is protected from the eastern winds by a
chain of hills of diluvian formation. Trees and verdure
are rarely to be seen, so that the heat reflected from the
river sand, and from the rocks and gravel of the hills,
makes the place a veritable furnace. One should possess
the incombustible nature of the Salamander to live there
any length of time ; and despite its excellent site, I
question if it will ever assume any considerable deve-
lopment.

One of my free-thinking companions offered me
the hospitality of his house ; and not knowing where to
put up, I gratefully accepted his offer. Anxious
to erect a church at Rio Grande City, I sounded the
inhabitants on the subject. Catholics and Protestants
vied in seconding my views, and offered aid with their

ROUTE TO ROMA.

2G9

purses for the purpose. This eagerness was natural
enough, for a church gives importance and character to
a new settlement, as it does moral improvement to its
people. Several Mexicans of Camargo and the frontiers
were anxious to settle at Rio Grande Cityy where things
were cheap, but the immorality of the people held them
back. Besides, they had great repugnance at being
deprived entirely of the succours of religion. The
erection of a church would remedy these two evils, and
hence the general eagerness to co-operate with me when
the plan of the building was drawn and the outlay cal-
culated. But I could find none who would undertake
the direction of the work, or assume the responsibility
of its completion ; and, for my own part, not being able to
absent myself very long from Brownsville, I could not
assume the responsibility. Thus, with many and deep
regrets, I had to defer the project to a future time.

Having devoted several days to journeys in the neigh-
bourhood of Rio Grande City, I set off alone for Roma, an
American settlement more northward. My route was
a winding road, between the Rio Grande and a chain of
hills that issue from the Sierra Verde and other ramifica-
tions of the Rocky Mountains. At this latitude, the plains
of Western Texas disappear; the country is diversified,
yet its general aspect is melancholy. The mesquite
tree, the acacia, the wild strawberry, the carob, and a
countless family of the cactus, are the only ornaments
of these arid stony hills. Sometimes your way lies on a
whitish rock, which so reflects the sun's rays as almost to
scorch the eyes. Should a plant succeed in working its
way through some sheltered fissure more fertile than the
surrounding desert, it soon expires under the devouring
heat. As a compensation, however, should you meet with

270

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

a ravine or stream, or more moist soil, you find the vege-
tation incomparably rich and fruitful. In some of
those ravines I found gigantic polip odiums, aspleniums,
and other species of fern, which the prolonged droughts
render very rare in Texas. A death-like silence prevails
in this desert ; even the voice of a bird, or the roar of
an animal, hardly ever relieves the profound stillness.
The only living thing that I met during my journey
filled me with pleasure. It was — must I say it ? — a
rattle-snake. I had seen none of them since my return
to America. Were its bite not mortal I could have
dismounted to embrace the creature, for it brought
Castroville back to memory. After this meeting, I
pursued my journey musing pensively.

I arrived at Roma towards evening, and took up my
abode with one of the principal dealers, who was a
Jew like the rest of them in this settlement. It is a
jumble of stores and wooden cabins, mud and reed huts,
flung here and there on a hillock, half roofed or half
unroofed. The inhabitants are for the most part Ame-
ricans. The Mexicans are poor and few in number,
but they are most anxious to have a priest to instruct
them in their duties, to support them in their misery,
and to close their eyes at the supreme moment of death.
But, first of all, a church was needed, and the Mexicans
promised me all the materials, while the ten Jewish
dealers, who formed the financial aristocracy of Roma,
offered me each five hundred francs. But there, as at
Rio Grande City, when on the point of putting our design
into execution, I could find no one who would under-
take the management of the work. Although this journey
to the interior was necessary for me to learn the wants
and religious condition of the districts depending on my

ALAMO.

271

jurisdiction, I could not abandon the numerous popu-
lation of Brownsville to become architect and master-
mason for two or three months.

My next visits were to Alamo and Mier. I begged
of the pastor of the latter town to see the Catholics of
Eoma and its neighbourhood from time to time. I was
accompanied by the sheriff of Roma, an amiable and
cordial young man. The route, as it reached the top
of the hills, opened before me a view of immense ex-
tent : to the east the boundless plains of Texas were
lost in the white-blue haze of the horizon, and to the west
the blue mountains of the Sierra Madre raised their
peaky heads. Despite the distance, you could easily
distinguish their enormous masses, and their fantastic
peaks, gilded by the rays of the sinking sun. Northward
the hills on which we travelled were lost in a semi-
circle of distant ridges, while all around our eyes fell
upon an ocean of golden light.

Before arriving at Alamo, we had to ascend and
descend a veritable chaos of small round knolls, pitched
in a crowded fashion on the western ridge of the hills.
We travelled over very fertile and well cultivated tracts.
Alamo is a small American village of recent origin,
taking its name from the nearest Mexican river, which
falls into the Rio Grande. It is eligibly situated,
and time may be spent there agreeably enough. On
one side, the Rio Grande waters the gardens ; on the
other, gigantic sycamores, with their net-work of
branches, form a kind of dome over house-roofs,
that protects them, as a parent, from the raging-
heat. We crossed the Rio Grande in a flat-bottomed
boat. At this point the right bank is of a sandy
nature, and rather elevated. The table-land on which

272

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

lies the route to Mier, is covered over with sedge,
copse, and mesquite trees. Here and there you meet a
solitary rancho, truly wretched-looking. The road is
intersected by numbers of pathways formed by the
cattle as they go to drink at the river. Before arriving
at Mier we had to cross a wide but not very deep
stream, in which a number of people of every age
and each sex were bathing. At first sight I thought they
were gold-nugget seekers, but I was soon undeceived.
On the Mexican frontiers, ideas of social propriety and
decency are still in their infancy.

In its site Mier does not yield to any town of the
frontiers. It is a town of amphitheatre-shape, perched on
masses of rock, moderately elevated, with its church
spire, palm, and aloe trees, cut out in profile against the
azure firmament, while it still retains its Mexican com-
plexion. You clearly see that the Anglo-Saxon race has
not penetrated thus far. We had to ascend stairs hewn
in the rock ; nor did our horses perform the escalade
without considerable danger. Like all Mexican towns,
Mier has its square, in which are situated the church
and the principal residences ; and from it ramify a
number of fine wide streets in different directions.

Our first visit was to the pastor, who received us
most kindly, at once offered us the cigarette, chocolate,
and sweet cakes, and even made me a present of one of
those necklaces of blue Venetian pearls worn by the
Mexican priests. He also wished me to accept a
deer and a young ass. You may well wonder that I
refused, but my refusal took the cure by surprise, for
it seems he set a high value on those two animals.
I explained to him how difficult it would be for me to
traverse a distance of more than 300 miles, encumbered

AN APOLLO BELVIDERE.

273

at once with a horse, an ass, and a deer ; and I repre-
sented all the dangers to which they would be exposed,
were anything untoward to occur to myself. The fear
that his deer and little ass might suffer too much on the
journey, decided the good cure not to press his offer
further.

I paid two or three more visits in the town, but as
I was obliged to smoke a cigarette, and swallow a cup
of chocolate in every house that I visited, I had to
regulate the number of my visits by the state of my
appetite. I observed that in Mier, the people's skin
is fairer than in other towns of the frontiers, and both
sexes are mostly strikingly handsome. Their features
are regular, delicate, and of a decidedly noble cast ; and
they speak the Spanish more pure, correct, and less
corrupted with Indian words or phrases.

It was far advanced in the night when we quitted Mier.
Not being able ourselves to decide which of the several
pathways was the one leading back to the Eio Grande,
we allowed our horses to guide themselves. After an
hour's journeying we saw at a distance lights, which
we took for the fires of Alamo. We were mistaken,
however, for our horses, by a circuitous route, took us
back to Mier, while we were confidently trusting to their
instinct. Each of us was screwing his wits as to the
means of escaping a second like misadventure, when all
of a sudden we saw quite close to us the shadow of a man,
whose costume resembled that of the Apollo Belvidere.
It was a peon Mexican, who was returning from the
fields on his way to Mier. We inquired the way to
Alamo amid this labyrinth of bye-ways ; but, instead of
answering us, he took the bridle of my horse, conducted
us up the plateau, accompanied us for ten minutes, and

274

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

said, in parting, " Let the horses take their own course,"
and vanished like an apparition.

We arrived at the banks of the river without accident
about midnight; but the ferryman had left his boat,
and gone to sleep in his cabin. I had to parade before
him my titles and character, in order to induce him
to transfer us to the left bank. The night had grown
brighter, with the breeze fresher and more balmy. The
road was wide, so that our return would have been
quite an agreeable promenade, had not prosy sleep
closed our eyes to its charms. By the time we had
arrived at Koma, it was rather late to call at the house
of my Jewish host, to pass the remainder of the night
there. The sheriff begged of me to remain with him-
self, but, having lost the key of his hall door, we had
to enter by a window. However, we lost not much time
or labour in this piece of gymnastics. The sheriff had
only one bed ; and this, in spite of all my opposition, I
had to accept, the sheriff sleeping on the boards, wrapped
up in his blanket.

Every day brought me a new proof that the French
Missionary in America secures without any difficulty the
sympathy of Jews and Protestants in numbers, by only
manifesting a certain amount of confidence and. frank-
ness, while he remains inflexible in the performance of
his duties. Those poor people, who have not the happi-
ness to profess and to practise Catholic doctrine, insen-
sibly shake off their prejudices against ourselves and our
religion, when we unfold to them a benevolent heart,
notwithstanding the difference of our religious tenets.
A different manner of acting wTould not be consistent
with either prudence or religion ; it would only have
the effect of souring still more our opponents, and of

PAItTI-COLOURED INDIANS.

275

widening the chasm that separates us from those whom
it is our pious wish to draw within the bond of unity.

As my financial resources were just running out, I
resolved to return to Brownsville and took my leave of
the sheriff. Poor young man ! Afterwards he fell by
the hand of an assassin in the discharge of his duties. In
all sincerity I thanked the worthy merchants whose hos-
pitality I had enjoyed, and I set out for Rio Grande
City.

I followed the first path I met with, and it brought
me to the river ; but I had missed my way. To recover
it I boldly struck into a thicket, never minding the
thorns and the scratches, nor the fragments of my
clothes which they kept behind, hanging from acacia
and mesquite branches. I trotted along a whole hour,
and had made no more than half a mile, when all of a
sudden I found myself in the presence of nine Indians,
three of whom were women ; the other six were armed
with arrows. I grasped my pistol, and cried — " Halt."
They halted like soldiers at the command of their officer.
One of them came near and addressed me as a Mexican.
The sound of this tongue excited within me a lively
pleasure. I drew breath, knowing that I had to do
with Manzos (good) Indians.

" Where are you going ? " I asked.

The Indians told me that they were in quest of game,
but the scarcity of it on the Mexican frontier drove
them as far as Texas.

" I am," I replied, " chief of prayer on the banks of
the great waters. I have come into the interior to visit
the worshippers of the Great Spirit, and I return to my
cabin."

He eyed me with astonishment.

276

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

" Why does not the chief of prayer follow the great
road quite near him ? The way of the long grass is not
quite easy."

I durst not say that I had lost my way lest he might
be tempted to murder me, in order to have my horse and
arms.

" True," I replied, " the way of the long grass is not
easy, but the breath of the Great Spirit makes the
leaves of trees move there. It gives a freshness to pale
faces, and mesquite branches prevent the fire from the
heavens from injuring the traveller."

During this dialogue the rest of the Indians had
drawn closer, and the oldest of them asked for tobacco.
I had neither money nor tobacco : I told them so ; and
left them at once, saying my good bye and wishing them
a prosperous chase. Meanwhile I bethought me that
they said the great path was close by. By great path they
meant, no doubt, the high road. I turned to the left,
and in truth I soon found myself in the right road.
The meeting with these Indians had made me feverish,
I avow ; I could never gaze on those figures of ver-
milion hue, prussian blue, and copper, without expe-
riencing a smothering heart ache. I went to the bot-
tom of a ravine where a stream flowed quietly in a rocky
bed overgrown with moss, and having cooled my lips,
and stayed my excitement, I remounted without delay,
and soon arrived at Rio Grande City.

I stayed no longer here than to say good bye to the
inhabitants, then crossed the Bio Grande and directed my
way to Camargo. J was alone, and on foot, and the
road by which I had to travel ran through a wood. It
was a wide and handsome road ; but, with sand and
heat, my progress was slow indeed, and tiresome. The

CAMARGO. WEDDING PARTY.

277

town is only a few miles from the river ; yet, by the
time of my arrival, I was quite exhausted.

Camargo resembles all the towns of these frontiers.
Indeed, you would say they were all built on the same
plan by the same architect. The worthy pastor, poorly
accommodated and fed as he was, in a hut formed of
stakes sunk in the earth and interwoven with branches,
which were over-laid with a kind of glazed earth, gave
me bed and entertainment from Saturday till Monday.
On Saturday I assisted at the high mass, when the
sacred music was played on a large drum, a trombone,
two clarionets, and several violins. However, all did
their best ; and this singular orchestra produced no
mediocre effect in this old and simple church. A great
surprise awaited me. During the elevation they com-
menced playing the Marseillaise. In such a place and at
such a moment the selection was rather queer. True,
throughout all America, the Marseillaise is quite the
rage ; and often in drawing-rooms and on board steamers
I have been requested to chant this revolutionary hymn.
Perhaps, it was to do me honour that it was sung this
very day in the church of Camargo.

The pastor procured for me a guide and two horses,
and, on the following Monday, I set off at three o'clock
in the morning, notwithstanding the darkness. The
road was wide and solid ; and we stepped along briskly,
in order to make the most of the day before the heat set
in. I was two hours en route when I heard the tread of
several horsemen in full gallop behind me. There were
about fifty men and women in gala dress. They passed
on quite close to us at full gallop, some sending forth
rather shrill notes, others humming fandango airs.
They resembled a horde of madmen let loose, or of

278

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Indians enjoying a holiday. I inquired of my guide
what this whirl of human beings that had just passed
us meant. He told me it was the marriage party to
which we had been invited, but I knew nothing what-
ever of wedding or invitation ; still, in this very circum-
stance, I saw an excellent study 'of manners, and was
delighted with the opportunity. My guide asked me
to follow the party, for the way was long and mono-
tonous. We set off at a gallop to overtake the party,
which still continued at full speed, shouting, roaring,
singing, in a thick cloud of dust raised by the horses'
feet, and arrived at about ten o'clock a.m. at a rancho
which consisted of about a score of wretched huts of
stakes and reeds, where long tables laid out under a
temporary awning of branches were prepared for us.

I was scarcely installed in my tent, the owner of
which was a relation of my guide's, when medals,
images, crosses, and beads were brought to me from all
quarters to be blessed. For each blessing, the owner of
the article chose a godfather and godmother, who, with
himself and the priest, became Compadre and Comadre
de benediction, so that in about an hour I was related
to the entire rancho. The frontier Mexicans love to
multiply these spiritual ties, and thus in the course of
his travels is he sure to meet, even in the smallest
rancho, some relative or some friend of a relative. He
then does not indeed receive hospitality; he takes it
as a matter of course ; and installs himself as if at
home. After two years' ministry on the banks of the
Eio Grande, my relations counted by thousands in
town and rancho. Often I failed to recognise the man
who would familiarly salute me in these words, " Buenos
dias, seizor Compadre don Emanuelito" The Mexicans

WEDDING DAINTIES.

270

are quite liberal in the use of the diminutive termination
ito, as a mark of affection.

At mid-day the wedding feast was served up, and I
had the place of honour. The meal consisted of rice
soup without meat, but prepared with plenty of raisins
and spices. Next came roast kid, cut up into pieces,
and floating in a horrid sauce of beef-suet, pepper,
and spices. After the first taste, I felt as if my throat
was on fire. This beef-suet tasted like melted tallow,
and turned my heart. After the kid came tassajo,
likewise dressed in this abominable sauce. I had to
summon up all my energy to swallow these frightful
ragouts. My study of manners and habits was costing
me dear, and I got out of humour with my guide for
having accepted the invitation without my previous
concurrence ; but, like the rest of the guests, his stomach
was well used to these national sauces, and he ate like
Sancho Panza at the marriage of Gamache. The only
drink was a jug of whisky, which was sent round
at the close of the repast. This time I stoutly re-
fused, and asked for water, for I was so parched with
thirst, that I thought I could quaff the Kio Grande at
a draught. After dinner they withdrew to the huts or
under the trees, for shelter for the siesta ; and at four
o'clock I departed with my guide ; not, however, without
saying adieu to all my new relations, an operation that
engaged so long that a very late hour witnessed our
arrival at Reynosa Vieja. All were in bed ; but my guide
awakened one of his female relatives, who gave me a
water melon for supper, and a mattress on which I lay in
the great square. I was buried in sleep when, at about
one o'clock in the morning, my guide shook me with a
determination which I could not resist. He gave a

T 4

280

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

thousand reasons why we should start at midnight, and
urged me so effectually, that in the end I gave in
with a sinking heart. To shorten the route, we struck
into a wood of acacias, so dense, that I left there
behind me no small portion of my apparel. Blind to all
before me, I every instant knocked against the branches,
the thorns of which smeared my hands and face with
streams of blood. The path which we followed was
sometimes so narrow and choked up, that to make my
way I was obliged to stretch at full length on the
horse. I then heartily regretted having yielded to the
pressing suggestions of my guide ; but it was too
late to retrace our steps, and I vowed never again to
travel by night ; as if indeed the poor missionary could
choose his time, and was not in duty bound, whenever
duty called, to travel without murmur or hesitation.
However, day-dawn in its first faint colouring put to
flight all my ennuis , and I soon enough forgot my
recent sufferings.

A penetrating odour filled the wood ; the vanilla,
the pachuli, the jessamine, the ebony tree, and thousands
of wild vines saturated the morning breeze with de-
licious perfumes. The blustering voice of the cardinal,
the languishing coo of the turtle, the sad sweet moan
of the blue bird, the song of the bird of paradise, and
the mocker, scattered around a charming medley of
clear and plaintive notes. A light dew had strewn
on the leaves of the trees and plants a thousand liquid
pearls, which refracted the pure bright ray into its
prismatic colours. These perfumes, this gentle air, these
songs, and these brilliant hues did make me happy.
This awaking of nature conveyed into my soul a feeling
of undefined bliss; a vague happiness which I would

VARIETIES OF VIRGIN SCENES.

281

not have exchanged for all the joys of earth, while it
raised my thoughts towards heaven. In these vast
solitudes nature at every instant presents to the eye
pictures in which the sublime is ever portrayed,
now under the smiling and varied forms of virgin
forests and unexplored mountains, now in the guise of
a scorching or a monotonous desert. Everywhere she
instils into the Christian's soul sentiments and trea-
sures of poetry, of peace, and of gratitude towards the
Creator of those wonders.

282

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

CHAP. V.

A STRONG MAN. — A STORM IN THE WOODS. A SERIOUS FALL. —

A DISAGREEABLE ERROR. — - BEGINNING OF A LONG FAST. A BAD

NIGHT. — CRITICAL JOURNEY. — THE FUNERAL CROSSES. RANCHO

DE LA PALMA. RETURN TO BROWNSVILLE. A CONFRERE.

SUFFERINGS. MOURNING. — MEDICINE AMONG THE RANCHEROS. —

THE FEMALE WEEPERS. INTERMENT OF A CONVERTED JEW.

A WELL-SPENT JOURNEY. CRUEL SEPARATION DUTY OF FRIEND-
SHIP.

Aftee much fatigue undergone in the woods, I arrived
at Reynosa, and proceeded to the parish priest, whom I
found in conference with one Antonio Rodriguez,
celebrated, as well as his brother, for his Herculean
strength. I was told that Antonio one day, to give
a proof of his strength, seized a mule by the hind
legs, and notwithstanding the cries and blows of the
bystanders, the mule could not move an inch. The
fame of both brothers was as good as a police station to
the neighbourhood. If a horse had gone astray or been
stolen, it was rumoured that the Rodriguez were
commissioned to make search, and soon enough the
animal came back to its stable.

I returned to Edinburgh with the intention of making
my way to Brownsville along the Rio Grande, but I
could get no horse on the eve of St. James; and the
Mexicans, who have peculiar veneration for Santo Iago,
were scattered about with their horses in the sur-
rounding ranchos. After long searches, I could only
meet with two sorry-looking ponies ; and I made up
my mind to call upon an old acquaintance, Tgnacio

TROPICAL WEATHER.

283

Garcia, who doubtless would procure me horses for the
long journey before me.

^^re had just turned into a very narrow pathway,
intersecting a very dense wood, such as the virgin
forests of Louisiana, when torrents of rain all of a sud-
den fell, drenching us to the very marrow, over-flooding
the path, and forming pools, in which our horses were
more than knee-deep. The wood became thicker and
thicker ; agavas, nopals, and pitas filled up every inter-
stice between the trees, while the upper branches of the
gigantic sycamores bent arch-like over our heads, shoot-
ing down from their sturdy folds enormous streamers
of green. The storm raged with fury ; and made this
dome of branches, leaves, and verdure, rustle in a fearful
manner. The guide avowed that he had missed his way.

" Let us continue on," I replied, " we may meet some
one who will put us on the right path."

Nature is capricious at the tropics. The storm
subsided as quickly as it came ; and we reached the
outskirts of a prairie, over which hung a rainbow
of uncommon beauty. The reddish tint of the set-
ting sun gilded the tree tops fantastically ; large heavy
clouds still rolled along the firmament in wild com-
motion ; whilst the solemn roll of thunder was heard
at intervals. A herd of cows and a number of goats
were browsing quietly on grass now decked with bril-
liant diamond drops. They were tended by a horse-
man perfectly naked. His long shaggy hair, his brownish
skin, his gun by his side, gave him a savage and terrible
appearance. However, when I asked him if he knew
where was the rancho of Don Ignacio Garcia, he made
a sign in the affirmative with his head, and simply
pointed his finger to the path leading thereto. This

284

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

path wound round and round again like a wounded
snake in the convulsions of pain, and wriggled right
and left among the trees so circuitously, that every
instant I had to describe with my bridle semicircles
in opposite directions. It was quite enough to give
a Hollander the staggers.

After a couple of hours' wandering, I saw a huge
rattle-snake curl itself up. My horse startled, plunged
to the right, and brought my head against a large
branch so violently, that I was unhorsed and rolled to
the ground quite senseless. Had I not worn a thick,
strong palm-leaf hat, it was not only stunned, but lifeless
I should have lain. My horse made off. My guide, who
had been some way behind me, carried away like-
wise by his frightened steed, rode over my body. It
was all the work of an instant. I remained in this
critical position more than a quarter of an hour. My
insensibility over, I resumed my journey on foot, this
time praying no blessings on the rattle-snake. About
a mile on I met my guide, who, having mastered
his horse and retaken mine, was returning to my
rescue. I observed an unknown farm which, he said,
was the one we were looking out for ; but I too well
knew there was some mistake, and addressed an old
woman who was seated at a cabin door smoking her
cigarette.

" Is this," I asked, " the rancho of Don Ignacio
Garcia?"

" Yes, but he is gone to the feast."

" Are there many Ignacio Garcias in these parts ? "

" Yes, a good many of them." The identity of name
caused this mistake.

" Have you any horses ? "

A NIGHT AT A EANCHO.

235

" There will be none till after the feast."

" Have you anything for one to eat ? I have not
tasted food since yesterday."

"No, Senor, I have just eaten the last tortilla.'"

" Could you at least make us a fire ? "

" I am sorry I have no firewood — and the maize -
straw, which you see in the backyard, is too moist for
fuel."

I was so fagged, the night was so dark, and my
guide so little to be relied on, that I could not retrace
my path. I remained at the rancho and determined
on returning to Brownsville through Mexico, being
now satisfied that it would not be prudent to travel
by impossible roads, at the risk of either being killed or
dying of hunger. The soil all around was so saturated
with rain, that it resembled a marsh, and the interior of
the hut was not much better. Failing a dry spot where-
on to lay myself down, I stretched myself on a wretched
old cart, while my clothes stuck to my skin ; my teeth
chattered ; and I shivered with cold. Hunger gnawed
my entrails in a pitiful way ; my joints and limbs were
sore and broken with my journey and fall ; and with
all this, sleep I could not. In spite of all these
tortures I was not one whit downcast ; I knew God
watched over me, and that his angel reckoned my every
pain and ache to enter them in the book of life. It was
but a very little thing to endure a few trials for Him
who died for us on Calvary. Though not too robust
in constitution, I have always supported purely physical
sufferings with a fair share of fortitude. Unfortunately,
moral trials tell much more on my poor organisation,
and it is then I specially require aid from above, not
to sink or lose heart or confidence.

I

286

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

We were up early, and in the end arrived at Edin-
burgh without mishap. I returned to Reynosa, where
after many a useless search, the parish priest succeeded
in procuring for me a wretched little horse, but no
guide. I was then obliged to venture alone on my
way, without other direction than the stars. The
country was flat, but the trees and pasture lands were
laid out by nature with a coquettish gracefulness. It
was now a forest I had to cross,— now a little prairie,
green, or in flowers, encircled by rows of palm trees,
ebony, and mesquite trees — now a field of maize, its ears
of golden hue, or of sugar-cane with its lanceolated
leaves — now a resaca, in which wild ducks, cranes,
herons, treated themselves to a bath. The road was
wide and well made ; but unfortunately, like that from
Camargo to Reynosa, of which it was the continuation,
it disappeared from time to time beneath the grass.
Sometimes it was covered over with underwood — else-
where cultivated, so that often losing sight of it, I was
in danger of missing my way. I cannot say, whether
their independence has made the Mexicans more free
and happy ; but of this there is no doubt, that since
Mexico shook off the Spanish yoke, it has done nothing
to preserve the roads, and if it does not bestir itself in
that direction, international communications will become
impossible.

Towards mid-day I saw, at the outskirt of a wood, a
hut from which issued a white slender wreath of smoke.
I concluded that the people of this house had not gone to
the feast of Santo I a go ; and as for forty-eight hours I had
eaten only a few slices of water melon, an agreeable, but
not very nutritious aliment, I approached the door, and
knocked. A good old woman was setting about making

THE RANCIIO DE LA TALMA.

287

a fire for dressing tortillas and tassajo. I asked her if
she could spare me something to eat. She told me she
had just then only milk, but that if I waited I could
share her dinner. Before accepting the invitation
I inquired if the Eancho de la Palma was far distant.

" No, Senor," she said to me ; " it is near this."

The Mexicans are not too bright on the subject of
distances, and the word near, not qualified by a superla-
tive and two or three diminutives, often means " very
far." But I had yet to acquire this knowledge of the
relative value of words ; and anxious as I was to arrive
as soon as possible at the end of my day's march, I par-
took of a little milk and resumed my journey.

To the right and left of the road I had remarked for
some distance a number of crosses fixed in the earth at
certain intervals. My first impression was that they
marked the scene of some horrid murder ; and herein I
only fell into the error so common among travellers who
have noticed these crosses in the Mexican territory. I
imagined myself in a cut-throat defile, and was prepared
every moment to hear the usual formula, " Your purse or
your life." Drawing nearer, I observed that several of
these crosses bore the name of one and the same person,
and the same date of his death. Then reasoning from the
premiss that the same person could not be murdered at
the same time in different places, I concluded that the
crosses marked the spots where the remains had been
laid during the funeral procession. I was afterwards
confirmed in my judgment by Mexicans well versed in
the usages of their country. However, a few of those
mark the spot where murder had been perpetrated.

A little before sunset I arrived in my way to Browns-
ville at the Eancho de la Palma, where were assembled

288

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

together numbers of horsemen, some in gala dress,
others in rags and squalor. This rancho you might
almost call a little town ; its population amounts to
about a thousand souls. That day, not fewer than three
thousand souls met there to celebrate the feast of
Santo Iago. Palma has no grand square like the
other towns and ranchos of these regions, but it is in-
tersected by a wide and very long street in which the
races and dances were held. I sat on the window-sill of
the hut where I had put up, and, while waiting dinner,
I contemplated the public rejoicings.

The majority of the rancheros were superbly mounted.
Their saddles and bridles were mounted with silver, and
two of the bridles were themselves of solid silver. After
the races the horsemen walked about in large groups, arm
in arm, singing to the accompaniment of the mandoline
and the accordion, while some amused themselves by
taking a woman en croupe, and setting off at full gallop
to the end of the street, and returning only to change
their burthen. Towards evening, however, the horses
were tied to the trees of the rancho ; lanterns were
suspended from the branches ; and seats were set out in
rectangular forms. The rancheras, divested of their more
precious articles of dress and of their mantillas, took
their places, while the men formed in rows behind them.
Two violins, two clarionets, and a big drum played
the fandango, and the ball commenced.

At this moment my dinner was announced, and it con-
sisted of a morsel of kid broiled on the coals ; I ate it
without sauce, seasoning, or bread; and let me add,
without light. Fingers were made before knives and
forks, and they had to serve me on this occasion. I
endeavoured to shake off the crust of coal and ashes put

HAZARDOUS JOURNEY.

289

on in the process of cooking, but in vain. The whole
time of my repast I imagined I was chewing gravel
steeped in grease. Dinner over, I dispensed with
witnessing the remainder of the festival; and having
passed the two preceding nights almost entirely with-
out sleep, I flung my blanket around me, and attempted
to sleep in the back yard. But, during the whole night,
the bum-bum of the big drum, the shrill discordant notes
of the clarionet, the roars of merriment, and thundering
acclamations of the dancers, kept me from closing an eye.

Next clay, the principal inhabitants of the rancho came
to beg that I would remain some time among them, to
establish a mission ; to bless a cemetery ; to lay out
a chapel ; to organise, to baptize, and to marry. But
Palma, being in Mexico, was no part of my jurisdiction.
I should have the express permission of the ecclesias-
tical governor of Monterey for this purpose, and this I
promised to ask.

This time, being in a condition to continue my journey
through Texas, I took with me a guide who could con-
duct me as far as Galveston, a small rancho on the left
bank of the Rio Grande. We had only two tilled fields
to cross, so that the journey was without accident. After
two hours we were at the banks of the river wdiich our
horses had to swim across. I breakfasted with a Com-
padre de Bautismo. Thirty miles from Brownsville,
I met, in a small rancho, a Mexican, on his way to
Eeynosa, and engaged him to take back my horse, while
I looked out for another. It was not so easy to find
one ; and when found he had neither saddle nor bridle.
I harnessed him as best I could with cords, and set off
at full gallop for Brownsville.

Four rancheros travelled along with me ; and their

u

290

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

number increased by the way ; and I re-entered Browns-
ville with an imposing cortege, in a very whirlwind of
dust. I was browned by the sun ; my beard and hair
had reached a patriarchal length ; and my clothes were
all in rags. I was a skeleton from fatigue and hunger,
so that no one recognised me. Nevertheless, I was well
pleased with the journey, which had informed me of the
character and manners of those people quite left to them -
selves, more numerous than I had imagined, and so sadly
bereft of spiritual aids, that along both frontiers I met
with not only families, but whole ranchos, which had not
seen a priest for twenty or thirty years, to which my
arrival was quite an event, and which were astonished
to see a missionary act like the rest of men. I formed
grand projects for the moral and material improvement
of those destitute populations, so well deserving of in-
terest. Alas! projects are more easily made than
accomplished.

After my return to Brownsville I fell dangerously ill,
and it was with no small joy that I welcomed the arrival
of a colleague, sent me by the bishop of Galveston. He
was an excellent Irish priest, of exemplary piety and in-
defatigable zeal. He eased me of part of my burthen ;
and in his society I found genuine consolation. Unfortu-
nately, he had not youth enough on his side to support
with impunity the excesses of the climate. I was often
obliged to leave him alone, and go by myself to the
more distant ranchos and villages ; and as he knew no
Spanish, his position in my absence was painful and
critical enough. When I lived at Brownsville, my occu-
pations were so multiplied, that sometimes we passed
entire days without being able to interchange a word.
His health was shattered by these different causes, his

AT BROWNSVILLE AGAIN.

291

strength declined, and he was obliged to return to
Ireland.

Shortly after my return to Brownsville, my colleague
was seized with a violent fever, which obliged him to keep
his bed. The following Sunday I had to go to officiate
and preach at the rancho of Santa Rita, ten miles off, but
I returned to the town to sing the high mass and preach
again as usual. I could hardly conclude the mass, and
intimated to the congregation that a sudden indisposition
put it out of my power to give the usual instruction ;
and I had hardly reached the sacristy, when I became
quite unconscious. When consciousness returned, I
found myself in my bed, surrounded by some benevolent
individuals, who were lavishing attentions on me, while
my sick colleague lay in the adjoining room. At this
moment, Isidore brought me letters from France. Not-
withstanding my weakness, I sprang from the bed to lose
no time in seizing them. I took them out of his hands
- — but, alas ! they announced to me the death of three
members of my family. For some time the suddenness
of the news and grief left me unable to weep. At
length, however, nature had her course, and tears in
abundance came to my relief. I was seized with a
violent fever ; and for twelve days I wavered between
life and death. A poor young Irishman, named Philip,
with affecting self-denial, left his business to help Isidore,
and tend myself and my fellow-labourer, who were both
confined to bed, and as much dead as alive. Without
my knowledge, he called on the sheriff and the autho-
rities of the town, and informed them that there was a
fandango near my house, which every evening made a
noise sufficient to make me worse, preventing me from
sleep, and causing relapse. These gentlemen were

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

good enough to make the fandango change quarters. On
the fifteenth day of my illness I got up to say mass,
being now out of danger, but seeming ten years older
by my illness. Philip, as if to be out of the way of
our gratitude, went off to New Orleans, but I had at
least the happiness to see him afterwards in this town.
My medical attendant was also an Irishman, and would
take no remuneration for his visits and attentions. I
believe I was destined to be the spoiled child of all the
Irish who came about me. No wonder, then, that this
generous and cruelly persecuted nation should have my
liveliest sympathies and most grateful affections.

To make things worse, several diseases raged among
the female population of the frontiers. At this particular
juncture, the duties of my ministry were particularly
severe, while my strength was proportionately dimi-
nished. My parish, properly so called, radiated thirty
or forty miles from Brownsville as a centre, having a
population of nearly thirty thousand souls ; but I was
able to visit the ranchos, towns, and villages beyond the
above distance only at stated periods, so that the poor
people who died before or after, were necessarily deprived
of sacraments. However, I multiplied my journeys as
much as I could, and I was often on horseback the whole
night, taking hardly time to eat my meals, while some-
times I lost my way.

One morning I was roused very early to administer
the last sacraments to one of the best Catholic ladies of
Brownsville, Madame Mariquita Garesche, wife of that
good artillery officer who on my arrival had offered me
his purse, his house, and his best services. I was
attached by ties of devoted friendship to those two
superior natures, who loved me as a brother. Mr. Jules,
as I have said, was originally a Frenchman ; and Madame

PAINFUL PARTING.

293

Mariquita, as I used to call her, had lived a long time
in Paris, at the Convent of St. Clotilde. When at
Brownsville, I usually sat at the table of my good
friends, with whom I had many a conversation about
our distant native land. On the occasion of my illness,
Madame Garesche bestowed on me all the tender cares of
a sister of charity ; so that it was with the most pro-
found emotions that I administered the last consolations
of religion to this holy soul, full of resignation, who had
so often aided me.

I was still by the the bedside of the sufferer, when
Isidore came to inform me that I was called away six
miles from Brownsville, to the ranch o of St. Rosalia,
to attend a woman who was dying of hemorrhage,
Aware that this disease soon carries off its victims in
these regions, I mounted at once the horse that awaited
me, and galloped away. When I arrived, I found near
the dying, another woman who was forcing milk from
her own breasts into a spoon, and putting it to the
lips of the patient. The remedy had an effect the
reverse of what was expected, for the sufferer died
immediately. As a medicinal remedy, the women of
the ranchos have an implicit faith in the sanatory
properties of " the milk of a Christian woman,'7 as they
call it. Unfortunately, experience speaks against them.
Much better is the system of Kaspail, which is in such
vogue in these countries, and applied with such success.
I have seen sold at a fabulous price, his " Annual of
Health," translated from the Spanish. For sun strokes
and apoplexy, sedative water was the only remedy
known in these regions. In the ranchos, when one dies,
the women weep, set up a bitter cry, tear their hair,
strike their breasts with all the marks of grief, which,

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

whether in earnest or acted, is equally violent. At all
times these noisy manifestations of grief take place
among a primitive, uncultivated people. I witnessed
this scene for the first time at Rosalia ; and was alarmed
and moved by it ; but I escaped with all speed, having to
assist at the interment of a converted Jew.

On my return to Brownsville, I performed the
obsequies. Having reached the cemetery, we were
assailed by one of those sudden storms which the
tropics alone are able to engender. In an instant we
were wet through. The soil was so softened by the
unexpected deluge, that the brink of the grave fell in
where I was reciting the prayers for the dead, and
myself, and eight or ten others besides, fell over the
coffin, and were half buried with the dead. But we
escaped with sprains, a few bruises, and a coating of
yellow mud upon oar garments.

During this time, the streets were metamorphosed .
into as many little rivers, which I had to cross on foot.
The storm ceased as quickly as it had begun ; the
sun shone forth in all his radiant splendour ; and on
arriving at the presbytery, I found two horses saddled
ready, waiting for me, with a guide, who begged of me
to go with him without a moment's delay to attend two
women, who were dying in a rancho thirty-two miles
from Brownsville. He added, that in order to travel
more quickly, he had left, half way, two other horses
as a relay.

There was no time for hesitation, and I did not even
wait to breakfast, but changed my wet cassock for my
coat, clapped my palm-branch hat well down on my
head, to guard against the burning sun, and set off at
a gallop. Having galloped for an hour and a half,

SUFFERING AND MOURNING.

295

we exchanged our jaded horses for the relay awaiting
us, and pursued our journey at a similar pace. I did
not at the time perceive the error of my not having
breakfasted ; but now I felt very weak and unwell, and
had distressing heaviness of stomach ; my clothes were
wet, not now with rain, but the perspiration that flowed
abundantly from me in large tepid drops The heavens
seemed on fire — the atmosphere in flames. It was the
end of August, at the height of the raging heat, and
the sun, with a serene, majestic self-complacency, sent
down on our devoted heads his perpendicular rays. We
crossed a great resaca, where the carburetted hydrogen
that escaped from the earth disturbed the air like the
fluttering flame of a candle, to a height of twenty or
twenty-five feet. We felt as if we were passing through
the midst of a raging furnace.

When I arrived at the hut where one of the patients
lay ill, I was little better than herself, and I fainted
before I could be kept from falling. To restore my
consciousness I was abundantly sprinkled with cold
water ; but by the fall I got an enormous lump on my
forehead. Having administered the last sacraments to
the dying woman, I was about proceeding to discharge
the same office for the other, when I became unconscious
a second time. Fortunately my paleness and faltering
gait plainly gave warning of my suffering condition, and
I walked arm-in-arm with the rancheros who accom-
panied me. While the fainting fit continued I had to
undergo a second sprinkling. Truly was I destined to
spend my journey in a cold or tepid bath. My minis-
trations ended, I took a cup of coffee, but had not strength
enough to eat anything, and I made the best of my way
to Brownsville, where my presence was necessary.

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296

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

But my journey was not to end here. Having come
as far as the thicket that connects the rancho of Santa
Eita with Brownsville, and, on account of the frequent
murders committed there, called " cut-throat" I found a
Mexican who had been for several hours waiting there
for me to go to a rancho on the banks of the Rio Grande,
where my ministry was needed. This fine fellow had
been in Brownsville to look for me. Isidore informed
him of my whereabouts, and he came to plant himself
directly in my way. He tied his horse to a tree, and
continued smoking cigarettes while waiting for me. I
then turned off from my path and followed my new
guide. We struck into the thick of a wood, itself ex-
ceedingly dense, and consisting exclusively of enormous
ebony trees of richest odour, and of mesquite trees. On
the evening previous, I had assisted in this very place,
at the removal of the body of an American, who had
been murdered in a mysterious manner. One of his
friends proposed a post-mortem examination, with the
view of finding some clue to the authors of the deed,
and I was present at the operation, which took place just
before the interment. The deceased received a ball from
the very muzzle of a gun, right through the heart.
In his breast was found the wadding, but beyond
this, no more information could be gleaned of the
murderer.

We even passed beneath the tree where he had fallen.
The path was quite narrow, the trees were smothered
with foliage, and the underwood thickly set. The
shades of night were beginning to fall on this savage
spot, so solitary and ill-famed. The plaintive coo of the
turtle-dove was the only sound that, at certain intervals,
broke the dismal stillness. Night — silence — solitude
— the cry of the bird — all this inspired an undefined

SUSPICIOUS LOOKING GUIDE.

297

dread which could not be explained. I felt sad and
uneasy. From self-love, I suppose, I attributed this
state of mind to hunger, weakness, and fatigue. At
length, however, we arrived at our destination.

I found an old woman stretched on a buffalo skin.
She had been scalded all over with boiling water,
and was dying in the most excruciating tortures. To
give her some ease, her neighbours had covered her all
over with nopal dust or scrapings, — an effectual molli-
fiant, and much in use in these countries. Poor soul !
the joy of seeing the minister of God made her forget
for the moment her torture. Being unable to cure her,
I whispered words of consolation into her suffering
heart. I spoke to her of the dolorous passion of the
Son of God — of Him who said, "Blessed are they who
weep, for they shall be comforted."

I spoke with profound feeling, for I could never be
unmoved witnessing the sufferings of others ; yet I have
seen so much suffering, that my heart might well have
been hardened. But some natures it is hard to change.
As I was quitting this poor woman, she squeezed my
hand in grateful acknowledgment, and appeared more
calm and resigned. For my part, I was more stricken
down than herself; and 1 no longer thought of my
fatigues.

The guide who was to escort me to Brownsville was
not the same who had conducted me, so that this was
the third guide I had in the course of my journey. I
really quaked with fear, as I saw him sharpening an
enormous dirk, which he fastened at his side. In my
eyes he had all the air of an arrant, finished bandit. I
might well fear ; but it was neither fit nor prudent to
manifest my apprehensions ; and so I kept behind him
as far as I could. We had travelled a certain distance

298

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

when I heard the branches sending forth a crackling
sound before us. My guide seemed to take no notice of
this noise ; but, as in these regions distrust may become
a virtue, I called upon my guide to halt and listen if
he heard anything, for in the pitchy darkness to see any
thing was simply impossible. In reality, we heard the
approach of some one in the underwood.

" Who goes there ? " cried my guide.

" A friend," was the answer.

" All right," he rejoined. And continued his course.
But this answer by no means reassured me ; for I would
rather have met a panther than a man at such an hour,
in such a place.

Hence, I cried out to my guide, " How now, you
wretch ! you say all right, while I think, on the contrary,
it is all wrong. Do you know with whom you have to
deal ? "

" Oh ! Senor cure," he replied, " fear not ; I have
recognised the voice of Don Antonio. He is a good
Christian."

I knew nothing in the world about Don Antonio ; but
as he passed me by, I observed this good Christian, who
seemed to me a bad character in rags. Appearances,
however, often deceive, and I said, u Good night " to
Don Antonio, who, on his part, wished me a thousand
blessings. It was near midnight by the time I arrived
at Brownsville. In mind, as in body, I was truly in a
pitiable condition, but I retired to rest without taking
any nourishment.

Seldom passed a week not characterised by a suc-
cession of similar occurrences, which kept me a whole
day or a night, or both sometimes, on horseback, in fair
weather and foul. I soon felt that such a life could not

THE MOST BELOVED MUST PAKT.

299

last long, that my strength gave the lie to my wishes,
and that my stay in this mission would be short indeed.
Yet I found it impossible to act otherwise, for I could
not in conscience make up my mind to neglect the in-
struction of those poor people that I loved so much, to
allow so many poor souls to depart unaided in distant
ranchos, souls that called on me to reconcile them to
God, and open their path to heaven. Thus, notwith-
standing my wretched health, never quite restored
since my departure from Castroville, I determined on
pursuing this exhausting course, while strength lasted
to keep me on the saddle or at the sacred altar.

Sorrow and sadness just at this moment fell to my
lot. My cherished Jules (Mr. Garesche) left for the
United States. In the friendship of this pious Christian,
so full of lively faith, I found much encouragement and
consolation. His conversation was full of unction, and
engaging beyond expression. Solitude has always been
to me a sombre veil, spreading darkness and bitterness
over my thoughts. Oftentimes the best constituted
and most devoted natures require to attach themselves
to something sensible, in order to shake off the lassi-
tude of the soul. The mind cannot be always on the
stretch, as it soon wears itself out. When you return
from a long weary journey, the soul feels sad from the
sufferings which it has aided to console, — the body is
weighed down by privations that it cannot escape. At
this moment the flower which you love, whose growth
you watch, and which you water with due care
morning and evening — the bird that warbles its joyous
song on your gable — the faithful dog that watches
your return with plantive whining, are not enough
to drive away this natural melancholy brought on by

300 TEXAS AND MEXICO.

solitude. I was, therefore, deeply attached to this holy
couple, tried so much by sickness. Twice was Madame
Garesche brought to the brink of the grave ; and twice
did she escape, contrary to all the expectations of
professional skill.

During our hours of freedom, Mr. Jules and his wife
used to come and pass some time beneath the porch
of my cottage. To the happiness of speaking my
mother-tongue, while breathing the pure temperate air,
embalmed with the fragrance of tropical nights, was
added the advantage of drawing from the fountain
head important information, regarding the countries
which Mr. Jules had for a long time inhabited. At my
age, these conversations had still for me the charm
which the outpourings of friendship bestow upon those
in whom years, evils, and experience have not weakened,
and destroyed one by one their dearest illusions. My
burthen was often enough rather heavy for shoulders
so young ; and sometimes God allowed me to fall into
faint-heartedness, as if to show that He alone is the
Consoler supreme, the Master of all hearts, and that
in Him alone I ought to place all my confidence, from
Him draw all my strength. Unfortunately, in the
midst of trials, my eyes were not always turned towards
heaven. Sometimes they sought the earth, to find
there a support. I found in it the pious hand of this
friend, and seized it with all the energy of which I was
capable. These evening entertainments were a kind of
antidote against this singular lowness of spirit, the
offspring of solitude, which I could not shake off. In
the heart of my dear Jules I found strength and
courage, which Providence seemed to deny me, to make
my labour more meritorious.

MODEL MISSIONARIES.

301

I have never imagined that the priesthood was a me-
chanism, which was to work coldly and regularly like a
clock. Charity and love of human kind ought to be
the moving springs of action with a priest. Such are
often the tests of success in the apostolical ministry.
St. Francis Xavier, St. Francis de Sales, St. Vincent de
Paul, and so many other apostles of human nature, have
converted whole nations, by pouring into their words
and actions the treasures of charity, that glowed in the
focus of their own ardent bosoms. A priest who would
act differently from these illustrious models would preach
to a desert, he would beat the air, and his ministry
would be void. But if charity of the heart is the prin-
ciple of zeal, it is also the source of a thousand miseries
to him who attaches himself too much to the people
whom he evangelises. To keep up this sacred fire of
charity, and direct it to the greater glory of God and
the profit of our fellow men, a strength is required
which is found only at the foot of the crucifix. That
encouragement is required, which is found chiefly in
the perusal of the history of apostolical men, and in the
devotedness of a pious affection.

Jules had been, then, to me one of those beings whose
parting leaves in the soul a void hard to be filled up.
The day of his departure arrived. I embraced him in a
flood of tears, and parted, never to see him more. His
pious consort, yet hardly over the effects of her late
illness, accompanied him. She was anxious to go and
pray over the tomb of her two children who died in the
cradle, and were interred in the church, but was pre-
vented by unforeseen circumstances. At the moment of
parting, she made me promise to discharge this pious
duty for her by proxy.

302

TEXAS AND MEXICO,

Sadly did I enter my house, to be cheered no longer
by the visits of my friends. As night came I went to
the chapel, feebly lighted by the pale ray of the moon.
The breeze was hushed ; the birds slept in their nests ;
all nature was plunged in profound silence ; while I
directed my steps towards the tomb of the two little
angels, to fulfil my promise. Alas ! It is only mothers
who can weep over the bliss of their little ones, while
their innocent souls enjoy an eternal happiness in heaven.
Poor mother ! she need not visit those two tombs over
which I knelt in prayer, and which so often witnessed
her prayers and moans. I could not pray for the
angels whose bliss was secure ; but I did pray for all
mothers whose blind tenderness for their children is
often cruel in its results — - fatal tenderness, which fills
the world with misery, and inundates it with vice.
Thus did I discharge that debt of maternal piety.
Tears bedewed my cheek ; for I remembered that in
France, I too had cherished tombs, on which, perhaps,
I should never leave the impress of my knee. I
remained a good while, my head resting on my hand,
my eyes turned towards the altar, plunged in an abyss of
reflections, each sadder than the other. I had a friend,
and God was pleased to take him from me. Thereby,
no doubt, He wished to disengage me from all those
earthly comforts on which I loved too much to lean.

Since, henceforth, God was to be my only guide and
support, I prayed Him with fervour not to abandon me.
When I returned to my room, though still dejected, I
was, however, calm and resigned, I bethought me of
that incalculable amount of suffering that is spread
over the earth, and which a prayer, a look towards
heaven, renders so light.

303

CHAP. VI.

EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS. — ADVENTURES OF A EUROPEAN. — DE-
RANGEMENT OF A CREOLE. THE SECT OF THE VAUDOUX. — -DANCE

IN THE MTDST OF SERPENTS. SORCERIES. THE PIONEER.

PASSION FOR GAMBLING. HISTORY OP MY GUIDE. THE HONEY

ANTS. WONDERFUL GROTTA. SECRET OF THE THREE LEAVES. —

HUMAN SACRIFICES OF THE ANCIENT MEXICANS. — A VILLAGE
SAVANT. ■ — AN OPEN AIR MASS. — THE HEN AND THE CHICKENS. —

AN UNPARALLELED DESOLATION. THE RECEIVER-GENERAL OF

BROWNSVILLE.

In my conversations with the rancheros, I perceived
that the want of a religious education made their mind
the slave of superstition, and that there was nothing
which appeared somewhat singular, that was not to them
something marvellous and supernatural. Whatever
wore the semblance of mystery, whatever was the result
of adroit or secret manipulations, filled them with
astonishment and awe. They were content to believe
that surprising things were inexplicable, without making
the smallest effort to divine the cause, often so easy of
access. I can, however, urge in apology, that in these
vast countries, imperfectly explored and badly governed,
you meet, at almost every step, strange and extra-
ordinary occurrences. Some proceed from the clever
mischief of man ; some are the phenomena of nature ;
some the offshoot of the ancient idolatry.

A European living at Matamoros had seduced a Mexi-
can young woman, under promise of marriage ; but at the
moment of the marriage ceremony he began to hesitate.

301

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

and ended by retracting his engagement. The girl's
parents manifested no symptoms of resentment, but to
all appearance, they continued their social relations with
the seducer, who was soon persuaded that all was for-
given. One day, however, he was invited to dine ; and
after dinner, giddiness, accompanied by violent headache,
seized him. He cried out that he was poisoned, escaped,
and made the best of his way to fling himself into the
Rio Grande, opposite Brownsville. At this point there
are always passers by, promenaders, and barilleros. He
was rescued from the water, — his life wras saved, but
his reason was gone. Picked up by a Frenchman, and
conveyed home, he filled the house with cries of terror.
Every one who met his eye was a poisoner. He refused
to take any nourishment ; he got away ; flung himself
once more into the river, and was once more rescued.
It was then that a coloured woman, who had lived a long
time in Louisiana, declared that this derangement pre-
sented all the features of that which proceeds from the
absorption of liquids, drugs, or perfumes, known only
to the sect of the Yaudoux. She told how her mother
became suddenly deranged after visiting the house of a
Yaudoux ; and declared, with confidence, that if the
unfortunate could be prevailed upon to contract the
promised marriage, his derangement would cease. The
result verified the prediction; for after a visit paid by the
young man, in a lucid interval, at the house of the young
woman's parents, his reason came back, and the marriage
was celebrated.

This singular fact, which came under my own eyes,
recalled to my mind that I had seen, in a steam-boat, a
lithograph representing a Yaudoux dance. It repre-
sented negroes, coloured people, and whites of both

INCREDIBLE STORY.

305

sexes, entirely naked, forming a circle by joining hands
and gambolling joyfully in the midst of a number
of serpents, that entwined themselves about their
limbs without doing them any harm. Seizing the op-
portunity of learning something about this singular sect,
the immorality of which surpasses even that of Mor-
monism, and whose mysterious power is displayed in
deadly results, I made inquiries of this woman herself,
a native of Louisiana, where the Vaudoux were very
numerous.

" One day," she said to me, " my mother received a note
requesting her presence at midnight in a certain house
on business of serious importance. The signature seemed
so authentic, that my mother made up her mind to go.
She durst not inform either her two children or her
negress of her intentions ; but the negress observing the
sadness and anxiety impressed on my mother's features
during the perusal of the note, was curious to learn the
reason of it. Not attempting any questions, she waited
for her departure to take the note out of my mother's
pocket, and asked me to read it aloud. The contents
had nothing extraordinary in them ; but as I read the
address of the house, the negress exclaimed, ' Oh !
missus, a great evil may perhaps happen, your mother
is in the house of a Vaudoux.' I went out at once with
the negress ; and we found the house, which was only one
story high, having merely a ground floor. As the door
was unlocked, we entered. Alas ! sir, my mother lay
senseless on the boards in the middle of a triple circle of
black ashes. An individual, veiled in black, left the
room by a back door at the moment of our entrance.
What had occurred, I have never learned. I took my
mother in my arms, and, assisted by the negress, carried

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306

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

her out into the street. The freshness of the night re-
stored her to consciousness ; but she had lost her reason,
which she never after recovered."

The sect of the Yaudoux, originally from Africa, as
it would seem, is widely spread among the negroes of
the United States and the Antilles. What is its veritable
end and object ? It is hard to say: but this is certain,
that its springs of action are self-interest, cupidity,
and vengeance. They possess important secrets respect-
ing the properties of certain plants, more or less un-
known. They make perfumes or poisons, the effects of
which are widely different ; one kind killing by degrees,
another like the thunderbolt; while some attack reason
in different degrees, or destroy it altogether. They are
also in possession of peculiar antidotes. A large
number of Creoles, of whites, and of coloured people
belong to this sect ; and some of them even occupy a
high position in the society.

The investigation of the mysteries of the Yaudoux
would be a curious study, but it is as difficult as it is
dangerous a task to interfere in their concerns. I was
told the following, regarding some of their ceremonies, as
they are often celebrated at New Orleans, at the Suburb
Treme, in an isolated house, surrounded by a fence of
boards, and only one story high. One room composed
nearly the whole house* At the further end of it,
towards the east, was raised an altar covered over with
red woollen cloth. This altar was hollow, and filled
inside with rattle-snakes, congos, and other venomous
reptiles, which would crawl out during the dance, glide
about the room, and entwine themselves about the
persons of the dancers. The Yaudoux undress, without
doubt, in a closet on the ground floor, for they enter

VAUDOUX SECT.

307

quite naked by the door to the left of the altar. There
they join hands and form a ring, while a negro takes his
post in the centre, burns in a perfuming pan a substance
that diffuses a thick white smoke through the room,
stoops to the floor, perhaps to trace certain cabalistic
figures, takes five serpents off the altar, and folds them
round his neck and limbs. The ring then puts itself
in motion ; and the whole company, including the
negro, twist and jump about for a considerable time.
At length the lights are put out, and the noise ceases as
darkness comes on.

This sect inspires such terror into the coloured popu-
lation and the negroes who belong to it, that you cannot
get them to procure personal and direct information re-
garding these mysterious practices. What they say about
them is so extraordinary, that no reliance can be placed
in it. I have frequently seen at New Orleans in the
sequestered streets of the Suburb Treme, boxes of tinned
iron full of oil, and containing a square-cut stove,
the size of which varies with the box. They were
placed at nightfall on the window-sills, but it was long
before I could get any person to explain to me the
reason for the boxes being there. No one remarked them ;
and it was only during the latter days of my stay at
Texas that I found them out to be specifics against the
witchery of the Vaudoux. However, they are not
numerous in Texas, and their sect is unnoticed there,
except when any singular occurrence, such as the passing
derangement of the European of Matamoros, suddenly
recalls its existence. What struck me most was the
indifference of the American police regarding the
Vaudoux, an indifference common to all parts in which
this sect is found. The police, however, know how to

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

deal with facts, which, secret though they be, are not
entirely beyond their jurisdiction. Why do they tolerate
these orgies, these arbitrary and cruel acts ? Are they
themselves afraid of the Vaudoux ?

But if the Vaudoux are few in Texas, it is not so
with another class of a similar stamp, I mean witches,
who show their heads in the frontier ranchos of Texas
and Mexico. Hardly a week passes without poor
people having to complain of some wickedness practised
on themselves, their lands, or their cattle. The witch
the most feared and famous among the rancheros, lived at
Eamireno, three miles from Brownsville. From her know-
ledge of the magnetic passes and the properties of herbs
she used to astonish the poor Mexicans by her charms
and cures, or else alarm them by her mischievous arts.
She was held in mysterious respect, mingled with awe.
I essayed to diminish her influence over the weak
imaginations of the rancheros by explaining to them
the means used for their deception ; but I could never
succeed. Facts were more powerful than words. The
simplest remedy was to advise them to keep away from
the company of the sorceress, to have nothing to do with
her, to live as good Christians ; calling to their memory,
" If God is for us, who shall be against us ? " At the
same time I demanded of the witch to change her trade,
threatening, in case she did any mischief, to have an
inquiry. In the country parts of the Texan frontiers,
there are traditions or stories rife about the secrets of
natural history ; and you learn astonishing things, which
it would be as unreasonable to deny without proof, as
to admit without examination. In the course of the
November of 1851, 1 proceeded, under the guidance of a
peon (a kind of white slave), to a rancho where a poor

THE PEON SLAVES.

309

woman was about to expire ; but having a marriage and
several baptisms to perform in another rancho not far
distant, I took along with me the vestments and other
necessaries for the holy mass.

These peons are nearly all reduced to slavery by
misery, idleness, or gambling. Their servitude is not
hereditary, and seldom even endures for life. The p6on
engages his services for a certain number of years,
during which he is to labour on the land, to tend the
cattle and deliver the messages of his master. On the
other hand, the master is bound to supply his wants,
and even sometimes gives him a small salary. In the
countries that I have lived in, the condition of the white
slave is by no means wretched ; it is quite different
from that of the niggers in the United States. In
general, the peon eats with his master and is almost
similarly clad ; and it is hard at first sight to distinguish
the one from the other. He enjoys much liberty and
labours little. It is principally gambling that multiplies
the peons.

My conductor was a humorous, poetic, story-telling
kind of fellow. He sang a good many love ditties of
his own composition, and when tired of singing he
recited some mystic verses, a few of which attracted
my attention. I asked him what he was reciting.

" It is my Christmas part."

"What part?"

" Ah ! true, Senor, you do not yet know all our
customs."

" Well, for Christmas Eve we represent at the rancho
the birth of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, as is usual in a
good many villages of Mexico. Three rancheros act
the part of the ' wise men,' and I am one of them.

x 3

BIO

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Others are shepherds, and sing hymns to the accom-
paniment of the mandoline. The youngest and hand-
somest rancheros are the angels and intone the anthems-"

He went on for half an hour giving the detail of the
ceremony. It was not without pleasure that 9000
miles from France, I found the representation of mys-
teries once so common in Europe.

While we thus chatted, we reached the banks of a
large resaca of limpid transparence. It formed an oval
regularly-shaped lake, skirted, as though by a frame-
work, with palm trees, ebony trees, cedars, green oaks,
and sycamores ; while the wild vines connected one with
the other by their graceful garlands, and a verdant slope
adorned with fern and flowers, trended from the foot of
the trees to the water's edge. A multitude of water
fowls gambolled beneath. In the distance we saw stags
and tawny animals slaking their thirst. In the midst
of the lake was a woody island. A cloudless, azure
sky completed this picture so full of charm and poetry.
I was enchanted with the spectacle, and communicated
my feelings to my peon.

" Oh ! " said he, " if you went in the direction of the
Red River, you would see sights more beautiful than
this."

" There is, then, a Red River near this place ?"

" Yes, it is very curious, especially at the Paso del
Gigante. It is a ford, that gets its name on account of
the bones of giants buried there. I have seen bones
twelve or fourteen feet in length, but all that have ap-
peared have been carried off, and the earth is so hard that
the pickaxe cannot enter it. However, if the curiosities
of the country have any interest for you, I can relate
to you extraordinary stories, for Don Ignacio Garcia

THE MYSTERIOUS HONEY ANT.

311

has travelled a good deal in the solitary valleys, and
learned a good deal which his fellow countrymen knew
nothing about."

" And who is this Don Ignacio Garcia ? "

" Ha ! Senor Don Emmanuel, you don't see that it is
I myself?"

" Well, Senor Don Ignacio Garcia, you have seen in
my house serpents and living animals, and minerals
enough to be assured that I have a fancy for curiosities.
Do me then the pleasure of relating your travels and
discoveries."

" With great pleasure, but on one condition : that
you keep the secret while in the Mexican frontiers."
11 1 promise you."

" First of all, I swear that every word I tell you is
as true, as it is that our Lady, Dona Guadalupe, is
patroness of Mexico."

" I have no doubt : but commence."

" There is," begins gravely, Don Ignacio, " in the state
of Tomaulipos a valley little known, where are found
ants of an enormous size, which make honey; and
their honey is still sweeter than the honey of the wild
bee, which, however, is the sweetest of all. They seem
half buried in the earth, while others of the same
family feed them while they are making the honey.
This honey is formed in a vesicle adhering to the ant,
and when the vesicle is full the ant dies."

Here I interrupted Don Ignacio, for the purpose of
telling him that I had seen at Matamoros, an American
gentleman, named Langstroth, who preserved in a glass
vessel a few of these vesicles. They are about the
size and shape of a raisin-grain. The honey has

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312

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

the colour and transparence of a beautiful topaz of
Brazil. As to the ant. it resembles the ordinary ant,
and there it remains in the vesicle as though buried in
its own work. I asked for some details about its repro-
duction, but the existence of this insect is so little
known that I could never succeed in obtaining any
further information about it.

Don Ignacio, however, had promised me unexpected
revelations. Seeing that I knew as much about the
ant as himself, he began to think awhile, and started a
new topic, in which I did not interrupt him.

" Ten years ago (it was then I herded the flocks of
Dona Trinidad Flores), as I was pursuing a mustang,
I penetrated into a very narrow gorge of the State of
Nuevo Leon. To the right and to the left I saw
only rocks and crags heaped up in confusion, as though
the mountain had fallen in. I observed nothing in the
shape of a tree beyond a plaquemine, a kind of medlar
tree, which grew up in this chaos. I wished to draw
near it, to rest beneath its shade and eat some of
its black sweet fruit. In climbing up a slope, I
caused some stones covered over by the moss to roll
down, and, in their displacement, they laid bare the
mouth of a deep grotta. I determined on entering ;
but, at a distance of twenty paces, I was brought to a halt
by a wall, which, from feeling it, I found had not been
built with lime and mortar, so that in less than five
minutes I had it all down, and there opened before me a
large lofty room lighted by a fissure in the rock. At the
furthest extremity rose a square altar made of polished
stones, the uppermost consisting of one solid block.
On the altar lay a piece of pure, massive gold, oblong
in form, a foot long by two inches wide, while over the

THE RICH GKOTTA.

313

altar stood out in relief against the wall, a frightful
grimacing figure made of red clay. The body was
covered with a bundle of maize-straw, in which were
set seven pins of gold, and several silver leaves tarnished
by time. Near the figure was to be seen a garment
decorated with red, yellow, and blue feathers, and in
form resembling the chasuble of our priests. At such
a sight I stood amazed, not knowing what to do. I
soon recovered, however, and folded the piece of gold
in my handkerchief, put the seven pins in my pocket,
leaving the silver leaves untouched, as being too
slender to have much value. I closed with care both
entrances to the grotta, and returned to the rancho of
Dona Trinidad, which was a good way from me. Before
reaching it, I buried my treasure in a private spot.
I sold part of it at Monterey, purchased my freedom,
and went to San Luis de Potosi to dispose of the rest.
Although the goldsmith robbed me, without a doubt, I
still got out of him two talagres of gold.*

" I had now wherewith to purchase a pretty rancho,
to cultivate it and grow rich, but I was fond of gambling
and roving, and could not settle down. After sending
my mother, who lived at Tula, three talagres of silver, I
bought a splendid horse, with bridle and saddle all
mounted with silver, and made an excursion to Puebla,
Mexico, and Guadalajara. I played a good deal
wherever I went-, and got on so well, that in twelve
months I was almost penniless. It then occurred to me
to go and visit my mother. I retraced my steps, and
before crossing the State of Zacataca, I halted at

* The talagre is a measure equal to a thousand large pieces ;
and of gold it is worth 16,000 piastres (960/.); of silver, 1000
piastres (2001.)

314

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Saltillo, in the house of one of my co-godfathers, called
Medina, whose mother was an Indian.

" Medina was old and sickly, and one day taking me
aside he said to me, 4 Don Ignacio, I mean to confide
to you a secret, known only to two Indians and myself.
As it ought to become the benefice of one alone, none of
us made any use of it ; but I fear the Indians may
divulge it before they quit the world. I am sick and
childish, and shall intrust it to you. Should you mean
to make any use of it, you will see what precautions
are required. Without them you run a great risk.
Let us saddle our horses, and I shall tell you forthwith.'

" We left for the mountain district, and went at a
cantering pace the whole way. Having rested in the
evening, we resumed our journey at night, 1 For,' said
my comrade, i we must not be seen by either of the
Indians, who live near the spot for which we are
making.' In the midst of the darkness we gained the
entrance of a narrow valley. The horses were left
here, and we began to ascend a craggy little hill, on
which, despite of the darkness, I distinguished nepals and
pitas. We had been clambering a quarter of an hour,
when my co- father halted, plucked three leaves from
three plants of the same kind, and said, • Take those
three leaves, Don Ignacio ; keep them carefully. When
they are dry, grind and put them into a crucible ;
their very presence instantly separates gold and silver
from every alloy.' I put the leaves carefully in my
breast pocket, fully impressed with the importance of
the secret, and we returned to Saltillo. I impressed
on my memory certain marks to distinguish this
favoured valley, and at daylight I stealthily eyed the
three leaves. I had never seen similar ones before.

THE THREE MAGIC LEAVES.

315

They were long, like tobacco leaves, much of the same
shape, and covered with a white down, that made them
to the touch as soft as velvet.

"To turn this discovery to account, I betook myself to
the silver mines of Guanajuato, in the mountains
bordering on Mexico. I applied to one of the richest
proprietors of the mines, a man of acknowledged pro-
bity, and I offered him my secret, and to conduct him
to the lucky spot for four talagres of gold. He con-
sented, but on condition of making a previous experi-
ment with the three leaves that I had with me. The
experiment succeeded beyond our hopes. The use of a
process so simple would be attended with a vast saving
in the working of mines ; so that, without a day's delay,
the proprietor and myself set off for Saltillo. We
entered at night, not to awake the attention of my
co-father. I found the valley ; but imagine my dis-
appointment at not discovering a single leaf of the kind
we sought after. We traversed the valley in every
direction — all in vain — yet there it was. In several
points the earth seemed to have been lately dug up.
AYhat made the plants disappear I have never learned.
So we had to retrace our steps, downcast and crest-
fallen. The proprietor was sorry enough not to have
kept one of the leaves, to send it to a Mexican botanist,
in order to learn its name and where it might be found.

"As to myself, with the little money that remained to
me I bought some oxen and two carts, for conveying
goods from Matamoros to Monterey. Unfortunately,
by degrees I lost gains, carts, and oxen at play, and
became a barillero at Brownsville, then peon. At present
I am master of the unfortunate passion, but I conduct
myself well, and work a good deal. My master is going

316

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

to grant me my liberty, and to give me in marriage one
of his daughters, for whom I have a fancy. I shall live
quietly at the rancho, and I promise you to build a
chapel and open a cemetery/'

"These are good resolutions," I observed, "let us
only hope they may be lasting, and that industrious
and prudent courses may bring you a fortune as large
as you met with by chance and lost by dissipation. As
to your grotta, I heard an ecclesiastic of Guadalajara,
whom I met at Matamoros, recount an adventure that
bore a striking resemblance to that of your story.
These, with other data, make me believe that the
ancient Mexicans did not confine themselves to the
public celebration of human sacrifices on those immense
truncated pyramids, those colossal temples, the majestic
ruins of which are still to be met with. The Indians
had, besides, particular sacrifices offered up in secluded
and mysterious spots, such as you happened to meet
with.

" Indeed, Spanish historians, of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, inform us that in several regions
of the West Indies the natives adored local deities in
solitary spots and grottas, and that they sacrificed also
on the mountains. The Indians of the island of Cuba
used to perform pilgrimages to a cavern called Loaboma,
in which they adored two divinities, of the name Maroba
and Bintatel. They offered fruits, flowers, gold, pearls,
and animals. In the same island in the desert was
another idol, of the name Conocotto, famous for his
extraordinary adventures, his invisible travels, and
the dangers which he had escaped by miracle. The
Cacique Guam area held this idol in such veneration
that he offered sacrifice to it daily.

HUMAN SACRIFICES.

317

" Every year the Tlaxcanallians used to offer a human
sacrifice on the mountain in order to obtain a good crop.
They would wait until the maize had got a foot above
ground, which used to be in the month of March. They
then took a boy and girl, three years old, the children of
free parents, in the vicinity of the town, brought them
in procession to a mountain, and immolated them to the
god Tlaloc. The hearts were not torn out, as was the
custom in other sacrifices, but the heads were cut off, and
the bodies buried with new winding sheets. This
month of March, which was the first month of the year
among the Tlaxcanallians, was specially devoted to
sacrifice, in order to draw down the protection of the
gods. On the last day of the month, called Tlaxcaxi-
penaliztli, the Tlaxcanallians offered sacrifice to their
favourite god, Camaxtle, the victims being a hundred
slaves. The victims were laid on their backs on a
raised stone at the top of the temple, and the priests
opened their breasts with a flint or obsidierme * knife,
tore out the heart, placed it at the foot of the altar, and
besmeared the idols with the reeking blood of the vic-
tims. A score of them were then flayed, and their
blood-stained skins were bestowed on as many famous
warriors, who put them on forthwith. The idols were
usually made of marble, jasper, baked earth, gold, or
silver ; sometimes composed of divers substances, and
ornamented with the precious metals. There were
some, a mixture of maize and honey, or all kinds of
Mexican seeds kneaded in the blood of boys and girls.
When the temples and idols were being demolished by
the Spaniards, after the conquest of Fernand Cortez,

* A greenish transparent stone of volcanic origin.

318

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

several divinities of smaller dimensions were concealed
by the Indians in the caves and woods, or else buried
in the earth.

" The amount of heads and statuettes of baked earth-
enware that you meet with everywhere, proves that
the greater part of the great tribes that constituted
the Mexican empire had their household gods. These
little divinities were generally sent to the priests, who
deposited them in the temples, that they might be
sprinkled with human gore, and thus blessed after their
manner. The priests had also other small figures,
which they distributed among pilgrims. Numbers of
those figures are found at the base of large temples,
and especially at San Juan-de-Teotihuacan. The
Spaniards, in course of time, forced the Mexicans to
give up all these little idols, for the sake of the precious
metals that either ornamented or constituted the greater
part of them. Still a large quantity must remain in
sequestered places.

" The tools used by the Mexicans, as well for sacrifice
as for private purposes, were of wrought bronze, which
was a good substitute for steel, or else of obsidienne.
The silver mines most easily worked and favoured
by climate are those of Guanajuato, which are very
rich. Before the discovery of the cold process {amalga-
mation afroid), a process whereby the poorest mineral
is made to yield its metal without the application of
fire, and which is due to a Mexican of the name
Medina, the silver mines of Mexico had not been much
worked, for want of wood or other fuel in the neigh-
bourhood of the mines.

" The sacerdotal garment found in the cave, proves
the truth of the statements made by Spanish his-

FOOD OF SUPERSTITION. — THE SAVANT. 3 1 9

torians, that the ancient Mexican priests wore vest-
ments bearing a resemblance, in shape, to the vestments
of the Catholic priest. In a work of Gonzalez Ferdi-
nandez de Oviedo, on the voyages and conquests of
Fernand Cortez, which was translated into French,
and published, I believe, at Amsterdam, in 1588, we
read that among the presents received by Cortez from
Montezuma there were — 4 surplices and vestments of
idolatrous priests, copes, frontals, and hangings of
temples and altars.'

" To be brief, those singular stories have the sad
effect of keeping alive superstition and the love of the
marvellous among this indolent people, plunged, as they
are, in the deepest ignorance. I met in the ranchos
only one would-be savant. He was small in stature,
dressed in black, with a low, round hat on his head,
giving him the air of a village schoolmaster. He
had a high opinion of himself, and never doubted about
the extent of his knowledge, as he knew some old
French books, that he thought were Latin. He told
me, with pride, that he had the Theology of St. Thomas,
the apostle. Having no wish to lower him in the esti-
mation of the people who were present, by telling him
that the apostle and the theologian were quite distinct
personages, I only asked him for the book. He
brought me a French medical treatise entitled the
Summa Theologica. Still the good soul seemed in
earnest, and imagined he knew what he could not read."

At length we reached the rancho where I was
expected. I administered extreme unction to the dying
woman, who had not seen a priest for sixty years ;
and, after partaking of a tortilla steeped in coffee made
out of burnt maize, I took my seat on a wooden

320

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

bench, under an old oak tree. The proprietor of
the rancho sat by my side, with about thirty rancheros,
of every age and sex, squatted around us. The
cigarette was lit, and we began to talk about the
improvements to be made in the village, and its future.
Some related personal adventures, more or less interest-
ing, and 1 talked to them of France, of her power, her
agriculture, her army, her civil and religious institu-
tions, and her old cathedrals. Railways, and especially
electric telegraphs, were to them wonders incompre-
hensible. They were so on the tip-toe of attention that
we prolonged the conversation till far in the night, with-
out perceiving it. At last, however, we separated, with
many hearty shake-hands and good-nights mutually
bestowed, and slept soundly on the grass, here and
there, with our bed-clothes round us.

Next morning, I repeated my breviary on the banks of
the Rio# Grande. This over, I took a little bell and went
about the outskirts of the rancho ringing it, to call the
people to mass, where I had prepared at the foot of a large
sycamore tree an altar, consisting of two meal tubs, over
which I placed a hut door. Two bottles, covered with
moss, supplied me in the place of candlesticks, and I hung
my crucifix against a tree, around which I had drawn
hangings, tent-shape, of muslin mantillas and shawls.
My rustic altar had an aspect at once graceful and
picturesque. After my third summons, the ranch eros
arrived in crowds and in their gala dress. Some had
come a long way, having previous knowledge of my
arrival. At the moment of vesting I found that I had
forgotten the alb at Brownsville. What was I to
do ? In the rancho there was no white stuff that
might be rendered available. After long and useless

A PARABLE.

321

searches, I recollected having seen a hut whose ceiling
consisted of a piece of unbleached calico. Cutting it
into the form of an alb was the work of a moment, and
I commenced the holy sacrifice in the midst of the most
profound contemplation.

The rancheros were kneeling on the grass round the
altar, and shaded by the sycamore leaves. After the
gospel, I turned round towards my audience as usual, and
began to preach on the parable of the husbandman, who
sowed seed in his land. At this moment, I could not re-
frain from admiring the picture that opened before my
eyes. This motley crowd, all silent, squatted in oriental
fashion on the green grass ; this young stranger who
announced to them the word of God ; this altar, so
simple and so fresh beneath a dome of nature's verdure in
the midst of a vast country ; the sun gilding with
glory this richly fertile plain ; the birds singing their
most joyous notes ; all produced within me a feeling of
poesy and happiness that I would not exchange for the
most noisy joys of the heart.

After speaking for a quarter of an hour, I stopped for
a few moments to wipe away the perspiration that flowed
down my face — for, far advanced though the season
was, it was still very hot. During this respite an old
man, an octogenarian and more, bald and venerable in
appearance, continued the discourse.

"Once upon a time," said he, " there was a hen which
had twelve chickens that never left her side, and three
more that rambled away from her. The hen did all she
could to support her brood ; but the land was sterile,
and there was no grain. One day a hawk that was in
search of prey espied the hen and her brood, and darted
down upon them. The terrified hen called her young ;

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322

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

the twelve that were close to her took refuge under her
wings and were saved ; but the three that were roaming
did not hear her cry and were eaten up. Your Reve-
rence," added the old man, "you are the hen. The twelve
chickens are the people of Brownsville. The three scat-
tered chickens are the rancheros. The hawk is the devil,
who has always some victims amongst us." Astonished
at first, I heard out this allegory with a good deal of in-
terest, but not one laughed. My surprise, however,
ceased, when I recognised, in my interlocutor, a worthy
old Mexican priest, who had for some years past fallen
into second childhood. Not losing self-possession, I
said on this subject to my good rancheros :

" The Holy Scripture tells us that the ' devil goeth
about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour ' ;
but if we remain ever faithful to the law of God, if we
observe his commandments — in a word, if wTe live as
good Christians, — we have nothing to dread from the
spirit of evil, and we shall die worthy children of God."

After mass, I took a slight collation, and, ac-
companied by my guide and several rancheros, I pursued
my journey to a village where I had a marriage and
several baptisms to perform. We had to pass along a
pathway so narrow, tortuous and obstructed, that it was
with much ado our horses could make their way through
the briars and branches that crossed us in all directions.
We then passed over glades and prairies where the
earth was so light and soft that sometimes it gave way
under our horses' feet. The rancheros call these tierras
falsas, (treacherous grounds) : after rain they are very
dangerous ; man and horse sometimes sink and disap-
pear in them, as in shaking prairies. We then saw a
large number of wild turkeys and roebucks that
made off on our approach.

THE FANDANGO PASSION.

323

We arrived without injury at our destination in the
afternoon of the same day. The village consisted of
fifteen or twenty tents at most, raised on the edge of a
forest and an immense plain of maize, watered by the
Rio Grande. In order to impart more solemnity to the
religious ceremonies, it was determined that their cele-
bration should take place next morning after mass.

The village was crowded with rancheros who had
come a long way, I should think, with a few exceptions,
rather to dance the fandango than to assist at mass.
Some lived so far as fifty miles off, a circumstance that
may give an idea of their passion for dancing, and of
how little they make of time and distance. When even-
ing came, a stage for the musicians was erected beneath
an oak ; the benches for the rancheros were put in
position; a meal hogshead, whose ends were replaced
by parchment, answered for a big drum; while a clarionet
and mandoline completed the orchestra. Lanterns were
suspended from the branches of the trees, and the ball
commenced.

The preaching, long fasts, and fatigues I had to un-
dergo on like occasions, used to give me a violent head-
ache, not much remedied by the sound of the big
drum. I went to bed. The bed destined for me was
in the hut of the future bride. Near the bed was the
greater number of the family, who talked and bawled
and laughed in such a manner as to keep me from rest,
even if my fatigues had allowed it.

I lay down in my clothes; and to increase my enjoy-
ment, a multitude of insects of every kind rose up in
war against me. Unable to enjoy either quiet or sleep,
I got up, and went out for a walk in the outskirts of the
village ; but falling down from lassitude and sleepiness,

324

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

I betook myself to an old cart, which I espied in the dis-
tance, and perched myself on its pole, which had been
squared with the axe. The effort I had to make
to retain my equilibrium, kept me from rest, and in
utter despair I went and threw myself at the foot of a
tree, and passed the remainder of the night meditating
on these poor people, whom I could observe by the pale
light of the lanterns, enjoying the sport of the dance.
These dark shadows skipping in the distance beneath
the branches of the mighty oak, to the horrid sound of
the eternal bum-bum, presented a strange and fantastic
picture. I thought of the witch dance. One of the
dancers, under the influence of drink, or from sheer love
of plunder, seized the opportunity to commit some thefts.
He was caught in the very act, judged, and in punish-
ment, tied to a tree for the rest of the night. He fell
asleep ; and during his slumbers, one of his judges
stole his shoes off his feet. The robber awoke robbed.

At sunrise, the ball being over, I prepared the altar,
as on the evening previous, under a tree. For want of
a bell to apprise the rancheros of mass hour, I employed
children, who ran from hut to hut to hurry on the
loiterers. The entire congregation assembled around
me were about five hundred souls. After mass and
exhortation, I performed the marriage ceremony. The
bride had to leave the same day with her husband for his
place of residence, at a distance of fifty miles. During
the ceremony her mother and relatives began crying;
the bridesmaids joined in the chorus, and soon both
bride and mother went off in a fainting fit. In my life
I had never witnessed such desolation; but the Mexicans
are never at a loss for tears. I then baptized five
children, who capped the climax in this scene of tears,
the whole five crying at once, with an energy of which

THE HUMOROUS RECEIVER.

325

I could never have conceived them capable. 1 hardly
understood the prayers which I recited, for my wretched
aching head sang its own unheard airs. I feared I should
go mad. Tears they say are contagious ; so the cere-
mony was hardly over when I took my horse and
escaped at full speed to Brownsville. I met Don
Eduardo on my way. He was an Irishman who filled
the post of receiver-general of the country and collector
of taxes. Before his time, the constables received more
gunshots than piastres, so that there was no great
competition for the occupation. Don Eduardo knew
how sweetness and moderation would render him ac-
ceptable and successful with the Mexicans. When they
could not pay the taxes in kind, they gave cattle and
commodities as equivalents. The collector sold the
cattle and commodities, and found a profit in the sale.
The Mexican got over the tax and the public demands
were met, both sides were satisfied. The Irish are very
clever in acquitting themselves in countries where they
are driven by circumstances.

Don Eduardo was at this very time returning from
the discharge of duty in which he had succeeded
in paying all arrears, so that he was in the best
imaginable spirits. Being naturally quaint and witty,
his company gave me a good deal of pleasure. He was
full of anecdote and adventure. He stopped at every
rancho, and had a shake-hands with every one. He
wTas co-father to all the inhabitants of the frontiers. I
thought we should never reach Brownsville, for it was
midnight, and we were only at Santa Rita. He asked
me to sup with one of his numerous co-gossips. Hungry
and tired as I was, I accepted the invitation. After the
meal he examined his revolver and changed the caps. I

Y 3

326

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

asked him if he had reckoned on killing any one on the
way.

" It is possible," he replied, " we may be attacked in
the Cut-throat for the sake of our horses, and espe-
cially of my money. It is well known that I have
always piastres with me from my excursions."

" What you say makes me regret having joined you as
a companion, and having been overtaken by night at
a distance from Brownsville, for I have no arms."

14 Oh ! don't fear," he says, " it is moonlight ; you will
be recognised ; and you know the Mexicans never injure
a priest."

We continued our dialogue, and arrived at Browns-
ville without killing any one.

327

CHAP. VII.

MANTA TRADE. CARVAJAL. — ■ A WAR OF DEALERS. COMMENCE-
MENT OF HOSTILITIES. — PRUDENT SOLDIERS. — AM ASSAILED WITH

A VOLLEY AT A DISTANCE OF TWENTY PACES. END OF THE

SIEGE OF MATAMOROS. — BATTLE OF CAMARGO. — TWO CONQUERORS
WHO DO NOT DOUBT THEMSELVES. — PRISONERS OF WAR. AT-
TEMPTS TO ESCAPE. HISTORY OF A PRUDENT GENERAL. CON-
DEMNATION. INFLICTION OF DEATH. THE HOLY VIATICUM.

EXECUTION. RETURN TO BROWNSVILLE.

The trade in unbleached cotton stuff, or manta, is most
important along the Mexican frontiers. The rancheros
use an enormous quantity of it for inner and light gar-
ments and for manual purposes. The Mexican govern-
ment, with a view of developing the manufacture of this
article, gave a monopoly of it to fifty merchants, chiefly
English and Spanish. The number of persons employed
in it rose to 214,509 ; and from the establishment of the
monopoly up to 1850, — seventeen years — the factories
had issued upwards of fifteen million pieces of that
material. Wishing to protect this branch of national
industry, the Mexican government had laid such a tax
on foreign fabrics, as amounted to a prohibition. This
would have been a deadly blow to the frontier trade of
Texas, had not smuggling assumed colossal proportions
along the line of the Rio Grande, very inefficiently
watched by about a dozen custom-house officers.

However, the merchants of Brownsville and those of
Matamoros suffered alike from this state of things ; for

Y 4

323

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

the transit trade, being contraband, extended along the
river banks instead of being concentrated in both
towns. They conspired to excite a popular movement
against the monopoly, and committed to General Car-
vajal the task of revolutionising the States of Cohahuila,
Tamaulipas, and Nuevo Leon.

General Carvajal was a Mexican, brave and enter-
prising ; more a distinguished soldier, I believe, than a
good leader. He had been educated at a Jesuit college
in the United States. He was of middle size, sym-
metrically formed, and had regular features : his lively
eye spoke at once address and energy. During the war
between Mexico and the United States, his part was some-
what equivocal. For some time he had cherished the pro-
ject of rousing the Mexican frontier States, either to force
the government to some administrative reforms, or to
organise a little republic independent of Mexico, which
should take the name of "The Republic of Sierra Madre."

General Avalos, commander of the Mexican forces of
Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, and Cohahuila got a hint
of what was going on. Carvajal being at Camargo, a
troop of lancers was despatched to arrest him, but he
had timely warning of his danger, and escaped to Rio
Grande city, whence he opened negociations with the
merchants of Brownsville, for money, munitions of war,
and all requisites for organising the insurrection. He
promised twenty-five piastres a month to every recruit.
A crowd of American adventurers, who had fought in
1846-7, were attracted by the hope of plunder and the
love of novelty. A couple of hundred discontented
Mexicans joined this troop. Carvajal marched on Ca-
margo, which, for want of soldiers, was taken without a
blow ; but he lost precious time in waiting, doubtless

MERCHANT WAR.

329

the fulfilment of the promises of the merchants of
Brownsville and Matamoros.

Meantime these had changed their plans. Possibly
they dreaded the frightful consequences if Carvajal was
conqueror. They invited Avalos to a grand entertainment,
at which they discussed the measures to be taken against
Carvajal. It was shown that the government troops,
not being sufficiently numerous to defend Matamoros
with any chance of success, the national guard should
be called out at once, and a supply of money and fire-
arms provided. The merchants, who had no fancy for
personal contributions, counselled the admission of
American cotton stuffs at a low duty, which might be
partially applied in suppressing the insurrectionary
movement. The other money would naturally go into
Avalos's pocket. This suggestion opened a smiling view
before the general, who decreed forthwith the proposed
reform, despite the remonstrances of the superintendent
of customs.

Carvajal was entertained with promises, and halted at
Eeynosa, as he had before at Camargo ; so that for eight
days or upwards, bales of cotton crossed the Rio Grande
that might be estimated at the value of half a million of
piastres. This transaction was little known, and there-
fore little talked of. The Mexican markets had a
supply for a long time ; but the smaller frontier markets
found no more outlet for their goods. Their interests
had been sacrificed ; and they gave notice of events to
Carvajal, who in his fury committed to the flames some
of the convoys of goods that were making for the
interior. Unfortunately the goods had been sold at
cash payments to the merchants of the interior, and
they were the sufferers.

330

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Carvajal at length turned on Matamoros, whence the
civic authorities, though they had made such preparation
against him, sent him a deputation to know his in-
tentions, and pray him to discharge his American
soldiers, engaging at the same time to arrange all things
for the best, provided that his proceedings did not
savour of foreign intervention calculated to wound the
self-love of the nation. But he refused, alleging that he
could place no reliance on their promises while Avalos,
his deadly enemy, remained at Matamoros, and saying
he could not dismiss his Americans, who were his very
best soldiers.

Next evening, with about fifty men he took up a
position in Fort Paredes. This fort, which is quite
near the town, consisted of some embankments raised
in 1846, to protect Matamoros against the army of
General Taylor. The only gun in the hands of the
assailants opened fire at once ; but at the third round it
became useless ; on the second day, at ten o'clock in the
morning, Carvajal seized upon the hut of the customs-
collectors, situated opposite Brownsville. This was
rather a piece of military parade than a stroke o^
strategy. The inhabitants of Matamoros fired a few ill-
aimed shots at him, which fell on the other bank at
Brownsville, and had the effect of putting to flight
those drawn together there from curiosity. Carvajal
then decided on forcing his way into Matamoros ; and his
column scattered itself through the streets, and began an
irregular skirmish, in which each man fired on either
side without aim or order. The fusilade soon re-echoed
through every street.

A little after the firing began, General Avalos was
hit in the thigh by a spent ball, and was at once

SIEGE OF MATAMOROS.

carried to his house. A few of the combatants, and
some curious on-lookers, were either killed or wounded.
At this moment Carvajal had only to urge on his
soldiers a little to become complete master of the town ;
but these, instead of advancing towards the Plaza-
Major, the centre of defence, adopted the more prudent
plan of hiding in the houses, and advancing slowly
by apertures made in the walls and partitions. The
besieged taking courage, pointed their cannon against
the houses that screened the assailants, and forced the
latter to scamper for their lives. During the night
Carvajal ordered his troops to re-enter fort Paredes.
This was a stupid mistake. The besieged hastened to
form lofty barricades with bales of manta, and to cover
roofs with sacks of earth, from behind which Avalos'
men could fire upon the besiegers, if they should
attempt to enter again, while they themselves were
quite protected. Thus the defence was better or-
ganised ; and from this moment it might have been
foretold that the hesitation, if not the incapacity, of the
Americans had snatched from them a victory which
was within their grasp.

I passed part of the night in spiritual attendance on
some of Carvajal's men who had been wounded, and
were taken from the Brownsville side to a temporary
hospital. As daylight appeared, thinking there might
be at Matamoros a good many wounded of both forces,
and that the Mexican cure could not be equal to the
task of attending all, I crossed the Eio Grande, and
took a wretched nag, abandoned near the deserted hut
of the customs collectors, and made off on him at a
gallop, hoping thus the more effectually to escape
the balls of both sides, between which I had to pass.

332

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

I penetrated without accident as far as the large
street that led to the square; but I found myself at
once in front of a strong barricade, and heard around
me gun-shots without seeing a mortal. However,
thanks to the bad aim of the marksmen. I got within
twenty feet of the barricades without being hit. There
were then thirty muskets aimed at me. It being too late
to fly, I suddenly drew the reins, and driving the spurs
into my horse's ribs made him rear erect, while a volley
teas fired, and a number of balls sped hissing past my
ears, — I escaped, but the poor animal that served me
as a shield, had three balls through his body, and
fell before the guns could be reloaded. I ran to the
barricade. The captain in command then recognised
me, and was much distressed by what had occurred.

£; Why the d — 1 have you come here without white
colours ? " he said to me.

" I did not think they were required when one was
alone and unarmed," was my reply.

The barricade might be assailed every moment, and
my position was becoming more critical. There was
no time for wasting words ; and I informed the officer
of my errand.

V I am come to confess the dying ; where is the
cure? "

" You cannot see him. They are righting in the
streets."

" Where is the hospital ? "
" Just hard by."

I ran to it, but was rather surprised to find there
only four wounded. The fighting had continued for
twenty-four hours. Several hundred cannon shot, and
upwards of twenty thousand cartridges had been used,

carvajal's sumptuous dinner.

333

yet the loss on both sides was only a few in killed and
wounded. Blessed be God ! the horses had suffered
more than the men.

On leaving the hospital, a negro who had come there,
I don't know how, addressed me by my name. Seeing
that I looked at him with an air of surprise, he said :

" How is it you don't know me ? I have a brother
who is in the service of your bishop. I have another
who is the servant of the Archbishop of St. Louis. A
third is with the Archbishop of Oregon, a fourth
who—"

I interrupted him, saying, "Tell me about your
brothers another time. The place is not well chosen
for a conversation."

Judging my presence at Matamoros unnecessary, I
returned to Brownsville, where they thought I was
no more.

The same evening Carvajal sent for me, begging of
me to go and attend the wounded at Matamoros con-
cealed in a certain spot, and who could not have been
transported to Brownsville, either because their wounds
were too serious, or that they were deserters from the
United States' army. I went forthwith to Fort Paredes,
where I found the general dining on sprats {sardines)
and a bit of bread. I put myself at his disposal. Next
day he sent me a Mexican guide, and I went on foot so
that I might run less risk.

Arrived at the Eue du Commerce, at the end of
which was a barricade and a battery of large guns,
I heard a heavy explosion succeeded by a shrill whist-
ling sound. A brick-house had fallen behind us.
My companion fell, a ball carried away his thigh and
abdomen. I took the unfortunate man to a neigh-

334

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

bouring street and knocked at several doors to find
some one who would look after him ; but all that
were not in the conflict had fled to Brownsville. My
position was becoming critical, and I knew not what to
do, ignorant as I was of the place where Carvajal's
wounded lay. Fortunately, an American officer who
was passing by pointed it out to me. I discovered a
wretched hovel in which lay stretched six men mortally
wounded, while an Irish surgeon, a most worthy and
devoted man, was tending them. I begged of him to
go and see after my poor guide, and exhorted my
patients, as I administered to them the last consolations
of religion. Five of them unfortunately died shortly
after.

Returning to Fort Paredes, I met a hundred of Car-
vajal's horse, who were going to encounter a hundred
of Avalos' lancers, in the review ground near the
cemetery. Both sides met, eyed each other at a
distance, and returned to their quarters, each glorying
in the others not having dared to attack. The
siege continued twelve days. Besides the firing, the
only event was the burning of some houses, which was
attributed to the Americans. The accusation seemed
not without foundation, for they several times threat-
ened to set fire to the town, if they did not take it ; and
as the Mexicans endeavoured to stop the flames and
save the property, they were treated to a warm fusilade,
which wounded some of their number. The flames
threw a lurid glare to a considerable distance. This
night too, was to me a restless one, for I had the task of
re-assuring several afflicted families, who had abandoned
their homes at Matamoros to take refuge in Brownsville,
and had come to me to unfold their fears and sorrows,

CANALES THE GUERILLA CHIEF.

335

which, among other things, the explosion of some
barrels of gunpowder might well justify.

Carvajal withdrew at the tidings that Canales was
coming to the relief of Matamoros at the head of a
force of a thousand men. Canales had been the chief
of a band of ruffians in the war of 1846-47, and was
accused of having sometimes fought against and some-
times imitated the guerilleros in his indiscriminate plun-
der of American and Mexican convoys, at the head of
his band of robbers and assassins. He had, they say, a
daughter, who managed the lance with expertness, and
commanded some expeditions. At the time of the
treaty with Guadalupe Hidalgo, a price had been put
upon his head by the Mexican government ; but he
succeeded in vindicating himself — nay, in obtaining the
rank of Mexican general in active service. For personal
reasons he detested alike Carvajal and Avalos. He would
have wished to have found the latter put to the rout,
and he put the former ; so that he came quite leisurely,
in order to give full time to Avalos to be beaten, but
finding him victor, he got into right bad humour.

The Mexican government honoured the town of
Matamoros with the title of " heroic town," as a
reward for its brave defence. The people of Browns-
ville arrived in crowds to view the ravages of the
war and fire.

Carvajal had withdrawn to Eio Grande city, and
wished to re-enter Mexico ; but, to avenge his defeat,
he organized a new expedition. Canales was sent to
Camargo to encounter him, and they met on the Cam-
argo road, where Canales' men riddled those of Carvajal
from behind the brushwood. Then Colonel Nunez,
who commanded the Mexican portion of the latter, ex-

336

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

claimed, " We are betrayed — sauve qui peut" It is
thought that he himself was the traitor. Twenty-four of
the Mexicans escaped to Rio Grande city. The Ameri-
cans gave battle in the brushwood, and the firing con-
tinued during the night, without many casualties. On
both sides the men posted themselves behind the trees
for greater security. If the men escaped, the trees were
the sufferers. Carvajal, seeing that his force was not
strong enough to succeed, retraced his steps to Texas,
which was only a gunshot from the battle-ground, and
Can ales, fearing a surprise, retired to the other side of the
San Juan, which flows near Camargo to the north. A spy
gave Carvajal intelligence of this retrograde movement,
and he returned towards Camargo, with the view of
entering the place before daylight ; but at the same time
the inhabitants informed Canales that Carvajal had
retired into Texas ; and the former, emboldened by this
unlooked-for event, also turned his steps towards Cam-
argo, where both armies found themselves face to face
by their very efforts to escape each other. The conflict
was comparatively bloody on this occasion. Carvajal,
Johnson, and a third general, whose name I do not re-
member, were seen to charge in person, and to fire the
one cannon which made up their entire artiller}7. His
ammunition falling short, Carvajal was forced to retreat ;
and Canales proclaimed that his own retreat had been a
strategetical movement. Thus did the war terminate.

The prisoners taken by the troops of Avalos were
regarded rather as rebels and assassins than as prisoners
of war ; consequently, they were condemned to be shot
a few months afterwards. Avalos, who had not yet
recovered from his wounds, was furious against the
Americans, and wished to give them a lesson for the

THE CONDEMNED CELL.

337

future. The execution was to take place three days
after the sentence was passed, and I was charged by the
Mexican general with their spiritual interests, and to
prepare them for death. They were kept under guard
in a room of the Lancers' barracks, which had been
changed into a chapel. This barrack, which served
also as a prison, was a large, square, brick building, in
the midst of which was a court-yard, in which the
prisoners walked while waiting execution. The en-
trance was by a large carriage-gate, opening into a
corridor, at the end of which was the court-yard. The
corridor was formed of two chambers, one serving for
a gate, the other as a dormitory for the officers of the
guard.

I entered, not without emotion, while the soldiers pre-
sented arms, and an officer led me to the chapel, of
which the doors had been removed. At the sight of my
French clerical costume the convicted flung themselves
into my arms, with affecting demonstrations of sorrow
and gratitude. A young Irishman, only twenty-two,
hung on my neck, sobbing and crying, " Mother,
sister dear, I shall never see you more." Both Catholics
and Protestants shook hands with me, and thanked me
fervently for having come to see them at that critical
moment. Their despair wrung my heart, and instead of
giving them consolation I began to join in their tears — ■
and my tears were a consolation. Inwardly I prayed
of God fervently to grant me the courage and strength
necessary to discharge my duty.

It was only after violent efforts that I mastered my
emotion, and begged of them to pacify their conscience
before appearing in presence of the Eternal Judge.
The American prisoners were not at all resigned ; they

z

338 TEXAS AND MEXICO.

said that they had been kept in cruel suspense, and
that the sentence was unjust. I recalled to their minds
the conflagrations and murders of which they were the
perpetrators,' in an unoffending town, having only
plunder in view; and that now it only remained for them
to invoke the Divine mercy. I gave them some devo-
tional books, and some tobacco, and promised to appeal
for a commutation of punishment, telling them, at the
same time, not to indulge in vain, sanguine hopes. They
told me thev had often written to their consul to inter-
fere in their behalf, but that they had received no reply.

I waited on the English and French Consuls, who in-
terfered in consequence with General Avalos, and I called
upon him myself. He is a small, fat, rather olive-com-
plexioned person. His black beard, and quick, sinister
eyes, gave him a ferocious look. His father was a
Mexican, his mother an Indian. The savage blood
could be seen in the man. With polished, affable,
and accomplished manners, he was stern, false, and
vindictive. As he remained deaf to my prayers, I
thought fit to remind him of a fact which I had on good
authority, and which closely concerned him.

" I am going," said I, "to tell you a piece of history.
A Mexican town had been attacked by a band of adven-
turers. At the outset of the combat the general of
defence was wounded in the great square. He was
taken to his own house ; but, fearing that if the ad-
venturers succeeded they might take and hang him, he
got himself clandestinely conveyed, during the night, to
a distant hut, leaving his troops to their own guidance.
A cure of my acquaintance was aware of the fact. He
might have revealed to the besiegers the hiding-place
of the courageous general, and there was an end to the

A GENTLE REMINDER.

339

war. But as there was at stake, not merely the life,
but the honour too, of the general, the cure kept his
secret. If you do not prove yourself to-day as generous
as he did, to-morrow he shall publish this story in the
journals, adding the names which I have not mentioned."

Avalos grew pale — his eyes flashed lurid lightning.
Had it been in his power to plunge a dagger into my
heart he would have done so without scruple ; but as
I trembled not, he thought me armed, and answered —

" Yery good ! the execution shall be deferred until
I receive orders from Mexico."

This was all I wanted, for I knew there was a
Spanish law, not repealed, in virtue of which, one
condemned to death, who should leave the chapel for
any reason whatsoever, could not be reinstated there,
that is, his life was saved, for none were ever executed
who had not passed three days previously in the chapel.

When I brought back this news to the prisoners
they embraced me with transports, and the hope of
life so lit up again within them that I felt alarmed. I
did not feel sure of success ; and I drew up in a hurry,
with the aid of the cure of Matamoros, a petition, that
went round among the ladies of the town, begging of
General Arista, president of the republic, the life of
the prisoners. It was not, in reality, good policy to
put them to death, for their execution would be looked
upon, on both sides, as an act of vengeance and a
political assassination. It was even an imprudence, as
by embittering the minds of Avalos' enemies, it might
cost him his life.

To save the lives of these wretches, and calm public
feeling, I wished to profit by the delay, to organise a

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

plan of escape. With some money this project could be
accomplished, as I had only to make a hole in the prison
wall, which was of brick, and hardly more than a foot
in thickness. Besides, the building was solitary, and
not strongly guarded, and the prisoners might, in a
quarter of an hour, cross to the left bank of the river.
But I was not seconded in due time. Among the
countrymen of the Americans I only met with inertness,
imbecility, and stupid threats against Avalos.

During these transactions, Colonel Nunez, accused by
the Americans of having caused the loss of the battle of
Camargo, was obliged, in order to save his life, to beg of
Avalos to put him in a place of safety, that is, in prison.
He came then, under pretence of important business, to
be a prisoner at Matamoros. Avalos, who did not
relish him much, was not satisfied with his arrest only,
but submitted him to a court-martial, and had him con-
demned to death. Nunez found his protector had gone
too far, and, fearing that the sentence might be put
in execution, he fled, and took refuge in Brownsville,
where his condemnation by the Mexicans restored him
to confidence. This escape of Nunez, who had been
in the same prison with the others, stripped me of all
hope of rescuing them, for it had the effect of render-
ing the surveillance more close, and the precautions
more effectual.

At length an order came from Mexico to shoot the
prisoners. This was on Saturday, and the execution was
fixed for Monday. This order threw us into consterna-
tion ; for we had been satisfied that Avalos, holding as he
did his military commission from the President Arista,
would not venture on any attempt at corruption or un-
due influence, either to please the president or satisfy his

ACCURACY OF THE PRESS.

341

own feelings of personal revenge. I had failed in saving
the lives of these unfortunates. It only remained for
me, with the aid of Don Eaphael, a Mexican priest, to
acquit myself of the awful mission of assisting them at
the last hour. Their prison chamber was again changed
into a chapel. An altar was made out of a long table.
The report spread abroad, and the New Orleans papers
repeated it, that I had bored a hole in the wall, by hiding
myself in the altar, for the purpose of promoting the
escape of the prisoners.*

* It is curious at times to see how facts are distorted by newspaper
correspondents. The Daily Delta, of New Orleans, in its issue of
22nd June, 1852, thus describes the circumstances that accompanied
this execution : —

" I am now going to tell you of a murder, one of the most revolting
that has been committed since the days of the Inquisition. You re-
member that in last October, about eight months ago, General Carvajal
attacked Matamoros, and that the attack lasted eleven hours, &c. &c.
In his retreat he was vigorously pursued by the enemy for two hours,
and four of our men, who separated from the main body, were taken
and cast into prison. They had been subjected to all kinds of hard-
ships and barbarous treatment up to yesterday morning, when they
were brutally put to death by order of G-eneral Avalos.

" I have to laud the conduct of some of the people of Brownsville
on this occasion: — the Catholic priest, the Lieut.-Colonel l, the
Spanish Consul, Nosmand 2, and several other determined foes of
Carvajal, seconded by the ladies of Matamoros, who pleaded the cause
of the prisoners before the bloodhounds, so far as to obtain for them

1 I do not remember that the Lieut.-Colonel had aught to do in
this business.

2 The Spanish Consul was dead, and his secretary had no influence.
The English Consul, however, entered with entire devotion into their
cause. He left at my disposal 2000 doubloons (6400/.) to aid me in the
enterprise. These consuls were not at Brownsville, but at Mata-
moros.

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342

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

I had intended it, but could not accomplish my design.
The hangings of the altar were constantly raised up. I
was between two sentinels; and two companies of lancers,
blunderbuss in hand, stood guard, one opposite the door,
the other behind the wall, against which rested the
altar. I confined myself to my sad and solemn duties.

The following morning being Sunday, the holy
Viaticum was taken to the Catholic prisoners. The
streets were strewn with flowers and branches — flags
floated from the windows, garlands of stuff and silk
handkerchiefs hung from the houses along which the
Holy Sacrament was to pass. The cortege left the
church, preceded by a military band playing a dead
march, and the people followed praying aloud. From
the depths of the prison I heard the plaintive sounds of
the music and the murmuring prayers of the multitude.
My heart sank ; I felt weak. The prisoners knelt by my

a promise of escape. General Avalos was to withdraw the guard,
under one pretext or other, during the night, and to give the priest
time to bore a hole in the prison wall, through which the prisoners
might escape. The priest, God love him, performed his task with a
crowbar. A little before daylight, the work being finished, after his
labouring at it all night, he passed into the outer court, the prisoners
behind him, full of the hope of again seeing their dear parents and
friends. They found a guard of fifty soldiers, instead of ten (the
usual number), outside, who forced them again into their prison.
The priest then called on Avalos, but was refused admittance. The
poor fellows were taken out at five o'clock in the morning, and shot
down before 300 soldiers. The sentence specified eight o clock. They
have been thus deprived of the last three hours of their life, which
doubtless they were anxious to consecrate to God. Such facts and
murders have raised a universal shout of disgust in this town. .

General Avalos was burned in effigy yesterday.

" P. S. The prisoners were denied the last rites of religion —
extreme unction. The priest's name is Abbe Donienech."

TENDER OFFICIAL SOLICITUDE.

343

side, wept and prayed along with me. Well might they
indeed. They were so young ! and grief for the loss of
life, an absent cherished family, which they were never
again to see. Nature has her exigencies, to which the
strongest will must yield. Poor fellows ! seeing my
emotion and my sympathy, they felt less lonely, they
drew from me some strength to support their misfortune
and think of God.

Don Raphael entered carrying the Blessed Sacrament.
They flung themselves before him, and laid hold of the
pyxis, imploring the Divine grace in a heart-rending
tone, and that they should enjoy the privilege of
" asylum," recognised by the law of the land. They
were calmed with difficulty. The prayers for those in
the agony were recited, and the Catholics received the
Holy Communion. In half an hour afterwards, took
place the collation of the dead. It is the custom that
the priest share in this last meal of the condemned
prisoner. I could not sum up courage to eat ; but from
courtesy and pity, I took some chocolate. Scenes of
this kind do their work in the heart of a priest ; and if
it be not made of brass, the three days that he thus
spends with condemned criminals are days of moral tor-
ture that leave behind traces not to be effaced.

In the evening the American prisoners received the
tardy visit of their consul, of their minister, and of a
doctor. These gentlemen brought with them coarse
linen garments, that their countrymen might be decently
clad for the ceremony of execution ; and they returned
home, after smoking cigars for an hour with the unfor-
tunate prisoners. I could not refrain from contrasting
this kind of philanthropic consolation with Christian
charity. What an abyss divides them! I spent the

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344

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

night in the prison with the criminals. I spoke to them
of heaven, of the clemency and mercy of God, for they
were greatly downcast. Some of them rolling about
their haggard eyes, murmured some unconnected sounds ;
others continued dumb, their eyes fixed on the earth.
From time to time one of the youngest allowed a heavy
heaving moan to escape him, sometimes a cry of agony,
while he wrung his hands. About two o'clock a.m.,
overcome with mental fatigue, they manifested a wish
to sleep a little. I arranged my own garments in the
shape of a cushion, on which they laid their heads.
While they slept, I went out to breathe a little fresh air
in the prison court where a Mexican officer, seeing me
in my shirt sleeves, lent me a covering, lest I might
catch cold.

The execution was fixed for seven o'clock. At day-
light, I went to the church to say mass for the doomed
criminals ; but it being closed, I had to go to the priest's
house to get the keys. There I was informed that the
fatal hour had been anticipated. I returned in hot haste
to the prison ; but was late. The condemned had left,
accompanied by a dozen other prisoners, detained on
the same charge, but not as yet sentenced. The place of
execution was an untilled field, about five or six hun-
dred yards from the prison. The wretches were fixed to
a kind of bench ; but the handkerchiefs to blind them had
been forgotten. The unsentenced prisoners did them the
charity of supplying the want. One of them, whose arm
had been fractured by a ball, tore off the bandaging and
gave it to the young Irishman, who had specially in-
terested me. With a cruelty unheard of, the un con-
demned had been placed behind the others, and thus
believing that they were about to be shot without trial

*

A MOURNFUL EUNERAL. 345

or judgment, they gave themselves up to the most violent
despair. Two of them fainted. Eight soldiers were
drawn up in two files before each criminal, and a battalion
of infantry assisted at the execution.

When I saw that the prisoners had been already
taken away, I ran to the place of punishment to rejoin
them, to give them another word of consolation. But
as I drew near, I heard a horrid discharge ; then a
second. They were no more.

I learned that a Mexican and a Scotchman received
the first discharge while they continued to pray, and
without blenching. The second was to put an end to
them. The bodies were placed on a dung-cart, and
conveyed to the cemetery. Slow and on foot, under the
pelting rain, I walked behind the cart, from which the
bloo4 trickled down, recommending the victims to the
mercy of God. The cemetery was two miles distant,
and the way was slippery and swampy. When I ar-
rived, from emotion and fatigue I could not stand.
There were neither coffins nor graves to receive the
dead. The Americans having got me to promise that
I should have their remains conveyed to Brownsville, I
waited on General Avalos to make the request, but
could not gain admittance. Either from fear or some
other reason, his door was closed this entire day to all
but his officers. I returned to Brownsville in a sad
condition, physically and mentally. These three days
had preyed more on me than a year of missionary
labour.

On my return to Brownsville, a crowd of people came
to inquire about the entire transaction. Their curiosity
vexed me.

" What have you been doing these six months," said

316 TEXAS AND MEXICO.

I to the Americans, " to save the prisoners ? Your
conduct has been that of men without heart or energy.
You have not even sought to procure them some al-
leviation during their long and painful imprisonment.
Though many among them were Protestants and Ame-
ricans, it was a Catholic priest who made an effort to
save them, who went to see them, to console them and
to sweeten their lot."

I was heard in silence, and it was admitted that in
this melancholy drama, there was but one humane and
honourable part which no one had ventured to under-
take, and which I alone, on my part, had filled with
constancy, self-denial, hardships, dangers, and priva-
tions. Thus, from this day forward, I acquired great
popularity along the frontiers, and had no more dis-
agreement with any one.

347

CHAP. VIII.

A MASQUERADE. — REVENGE OF AVALOS. — COMICAL HEROES. CON-
SOLATIONS. — CHRISTMAS. HOLY WEEK. — CAPTAIN MOSES. —

TOILETTE OF THE RANCHERO. — MOUTH OF THE RIO GRANDE.

NOCTURNAL REVERIE AT THE SEA-SIDE. BAGDAD. WALK TO

BRAZOS SANTIAGO. — NUESTRA SENORA DE GUADALUPE. — PROJECT.

REMARKS ON MEXICO ; AND THE INVASIONS OF THE YANKEES.

— ADIEUS. DEPARTURE. SOUVENIRS.

Shortly after this execution, the Americans wished to
be avenged on Avalos, and hanged him in effigy, as
well as Manchaca, his counsellor of war. The scaffold
had been raised on the bank opposite Matamoros ; and
two effigies had been paraded for three days on asses,
followed by an impromptu masquerade, with a frightful
uproar, and on the third they were hoisted on the
gibbet, amidst boisterous acclamations. The people
imagined they were offering a grand sacrifice to the
shades of their countrymen.

General Avalos could see from his own house his
effigy, swinging with the breeze. He did see it, and
felt it, and soon made his anger felt also. A band of
Indians, from the Mexican side, committed shocking
ravages all at once along the Texian banks of the Rio
Grande, from Santa Rita to Galveston. The steamship
" Comanche " was repeatedly attacked by these savages
during its passage up to Rio Grande city ; and each suc-
ceeding day brought new tidings of murders committed

348

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

by them. As I was attending a sick person near
Galveston, four Americans fell by the arrows of the
Indians, near the hut where I was.

This last outrage roused the Americans to teach a
lesson to the Indians who had taken up their quar-
ters twenty-five miles from Matamoros, on the banks
of the Rio Grande. Forty "good men and true"
were brought together and marched against the enemy.
They were commanded by a Yankee of Herculean
strength, but of questionable valour. The little troop
set out with as much hubbub as if they were going
to the conquest of the world ; and though the question
was, who should accomplish the most daring feats,
at the first encounter, the forty volunteers took to
their heels. The expedition returned to Brownsville
without sound of drum or trumpet, and it was well
known by this time what hand guided the Indians.
The American authorities addressed sharp remonstrances
and ominous threats to Avalos, who had to despatch a
force against the Indians, and they yielded without
striking a blow, allowing themselves to be taken to
Matamoros, where they got a field near the town, in
which they quietly installed themselves.

They were the mildest creatures in the world, at least
in their new abode. They were of great stature,
and yellow copper-colour. Each family was differ-
ently tattooed, and the men's entire dress was a towel.
The women were better provided for. I saw their
children, eight or ten years of age, send an arrow
through an apple at a distance of fifty paces, while some
hit small coins at that distance. They sat the livelong
day fishing on the banks of the river ; and at a certain
motion of the water, they became aware of the presence

*.

CONSOLATIONS.

349

of fish, invisible to civilised eyes. Off darted an arrow,
and in a moment there mounted to the surface, a fish
pierced right through. In the course of a few months,
they were allowed to return to their solitudes; and
thenceforth no more was heard of them.

After so many trials some holy consolations were
reserved for me. Every day I saw scattered sheep
coming to the tribunal of penance, such as had not
approached the sacraments for several years. More
than a hundred couples, who had lived in concubinage,
begged the blessing of the Church on their marriage.
On Sundays my church was filled with fervent ran-
ch eros, who had come, in spite of the inclemency of the
season, even ten miles on foot to assist at the sacred
offices. The soldiers of the garrison came sometimes,
the band leading, to add eclat to our ceremonies. I
bought at Mexico an organ, which I set up in the
church to increase the solemnity of the ceremonies, and
to direct the voices of our young choristers. At
first I felt great disappointment on learning, that
Brownsville had only one organist, who was engaged
by the Episcopalians. Fortunately, I was on good
terms with the Episcopalian minister, a young man of
education and liberal views, and no bigot against Ca-
tholicism. He had even been on the point of becoming
a Catholic, and was only prevented by his bishop, who
himself some time after abjured Protestantism. He felt
for my embarrassment, and as my services and his took
place at the same time, he proposed that I should anti-
cipate the time by an hour, and that he would post-
pone his by another. Thus the organist could perform
successively in the church and the chapel. By this
I had the benefit of seeing my auditory increasing by

350

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

the presence of Protestants and even of Jews. The Epis-
copalians came repeatedly to listen to my sermons ;
and I did my utmost to remove, by my preaching, the
blind prejudices which the Americans entertain against
Catholic missionaries. My words bore some fruit ; and
my conduct in the war of Carvajal facilitated not a
little my efforts.

I observed that when I began to preach, several
Frenchmen and young Creoles, having no great love
for sermons, left the church, and went to walk in my
garden, where they amused themselves with making
bouquets of my choicest flowers. For some time I
sought an expedient which, without wounding the lively
sensibilities of these gentlemen, would oblige them to
remain in the church and to respect my flowers. I
found a very simple means of arriving at my end,
without betraying my intentions. In the menagerie
which I got up by degrees, was a fine-looking wild
boar, which I had trained up as a watch-dog. On
going to say High Mass, I let him loose in the garden.
At the sight of this new warder, the marauders made off
with all possible speed, and returned to the church
patiently to hear the sermon.

Christmas-day arrived, with its rejoicings for the peo-
ple and its sorrows for me ; for we may recollect it was
my birthday. The memories of the past — of family and
country — came fresh upon my mind, wrapt in an unde-
fined melancholy. During the midnight mass, I had
a moment's happiness in seeing a crowd of every age,
sex, and creed, take possession of the house of God,
which was at this moment in all its splendour. The
draperies, the flowers, the lights, supplied in profusion,
were in sweet harmony with French taste, become

HOLY WEEK.

351

proverbial with strangers. The mass was sung by
fourteen of my countrymen, who had very sweet voices.
The chasuble which I wore, was the gift of a Mexican.
It was gold brocade embroidered with gold and silk ;
and though more than a hundred years old, it re-
flected rays of light in all directions. Upwards of 300
who could find no room in the church had to hear
mass in the open air. Fireworks, sent off by the officers
of the garrison, terminated this feast, which had never
before been celebrated with so much solemnity on the
frontiers of Texas.

Holy week caused me unheard-of fatigues. Besides
my ordinary duties, I had to hear numbers of con-
fessions, to decorate the church, to explain the cere-
monies in two languages, to sing by myself the entire
offices, which are very long.

After the offices, I went on Holy Thursday to
visit the church of Matamoros. I had to go this
journey on foot, for during the last three days of Holy
Week, vehicles do not run in the town. The choir of
the church had been metamorphosed into a mountain
of verdure, on the top of which reposed the most Blessed
Sacrament. On this mountain grew natural trees ;
grottas were formed of moss and fern, in which were
concealed shepherds, who, with their willow flutes,
imitated the wailings of the women of Jerusalem,
weeping for the death of the Redeemer of the World.
The sweet plaintive notes of these instruments infused
a melancholy feeling into the soul. You could not
hear them without profound emotion.

Easter Sunday was one of the happiest days of my life.
A crowd of Catholics approached the sacred table, —
(how many among them had kept away from it for years !)

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TEXAS AND MEXICO.

—and received the Holy Communion with meditation
and fervour. God abundantly recompensed me for my
labours; and with profound emotion, I gave vent to tears,
while preaching on the benefits of the religion of the Son
of God. My parishioners, affected, for the most part, by
my emotion, also wept. We felt the full force of the
words of Our Lord, — " My yoke is pleasant and my
burthen is light."

A J ew, a retired captain of a steam-boat, who used to
attend regularly at our offices, and was greatly attached
to me, shed abundant tears. His name was Moses, — one
of the ugliest men breathing, but not the less kind-
hearted for that. His face was red, wrinkled, and fright-
fully pitted with small-pox. His enlarged features had
neither regularity nor symmetry. My dear friend,
the captain, was a phenomenon of ugliness in his normal
state ; but his grimace while weeping made him some-
thing frightful. I confess this grimace made a certain
impression on me and rendered my discourse less im-
pressive. Meanwhile a ranchero, who felt it no doubt
rather warm, coolly took off his shirt in the church ; but
in an instant the sun darted his burning rays on his
naked shoulders and the ranchero threw his shirt over
them and tied the sleeves across his breast. Doubtless
this toilette produced on my auditory an impression ana-
logous to that which the grimace of Captain Moses had
produced on myself. It was that of cold water thrown
on fire ; for at the end of my sermon the tears were all
dried.

After the Easter holy days, I went to visit the por-
tion of my mission which I had hitherto but imperfectly
known. As it was but thinly inhabited, this visit was
to be only a kind of vacation. Captain Moses offered

CAPTAIN MOSES.

353

me hospitality in a house which he had at the mouth of
the Kio Grande, and I accepted the offer. We set off
together in the steamboat that plied between Browns-
ville and Brazos.

The distance, by water, from Brownsville to the
mouth of the river is about eighty miles, but as the crow
flies, only thirty. You would imagine that the Rio
Grande, no less than the savage, regrets leaving this
valley, at once so wild and beautiful. It hesitates, and
makes a thousand windings before losing its identity in
the depths of the sea. The banks are less picturesque
than to the north of Brownsville, being flatter and
more wooded, indicating the proximity of the sea.
According as the gulf is neared, the land becomes arid,
sandy, or marshy, trees more rare. The Spaniards of
the sixteenth century well designated this coast by
calling it Costa Deserta. It is a veritable desert. Some
tufted sand-banks meet midway, and two or three
ranchos are the only things that break the monotony of
the road. A little before sunset, we arrived at a village
at the mouth of the river. The dying fire of the day-
star flung into space rays of reddish hue which were
reflected by the sea, which seemed like a lake of blood.

The Captain's house was an old entrepot of munitions of
war, abandoned since the time of the American invasion.
The building, which was large, and of wood, was then
occupied by a quantity of rusty old iron, the remnants
of wrecked vessels, either sold or abandoned. A bed,
capable of accommodating four or five, was in the midst
of broken anchors, severed chains, gaping lanterns, and
other instruments of like nature. The Captain, with
wonderful sang froid, honoured me with his apartment.
The bed being between five doors and two windows, I

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354

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

could not want air ; but, for sleeping, I had calculated
without the musquitoes, which are more numerous
here than in Galveston.

Not being able to close an eye the whole night, I got
up, and went to take a walk by the sea-side, to which
the silver moonlight pointed out my path ; I climbed the
white sand -banks that skirt the coast, and took my seat
on the debris of a wreck, washed ashore by the waves.
I contemplated, with mixed pleasure and sadness, the
extent of this calm, fair sea, wrapt in the silver rays of
the moon. The waves died away on the shore with a
regular, monotonous sound. Some light, grey clouds
hovered in the firmament, and the cry of the night-birds
mingled with the murmurs of the waves, while a light
breeze refreshed the tepid atmosphere of this solitude.

At the sight of this spectacle, so grand, so poetic in
its simple beauty, and of which I happened to be the only
observer, I felt, in a manner, inspired. I turned my
eyes towards France, from which a space of nine
thousand miles separated me. I thought, that if death
did not overtake me in the midst of my missionary
duties, how I should soon be obliged to drag along, in my
own country, a debilitated frame, a mutilated existence,
henceforth without use or aim. For the second time
my strength had brought me to the moment of gather-
ing the fruit of my labours. For the second time my
frail skiff was shattered on the rock of sufferings, at
the moment of entering port. The "Sic vos non vobis"
of Virgil then recurred to memory. Cruel thought,
which darted across my mind like a temptation of the
evil one. I called to mind the words of St. Paul,
" What have you that you have not received ? And if
you have received, of what do you glory ? " With reason

NOCTURNAL REVERIE.

355

could I repeat, at this moment, the words of the gospel,
" I am a useless servant." And I was so young ; my
short career had been so eventful, I had lived long in a
short time. One consolation remained to me ; it was,
that I had never looked on the past with regret ; and 1
hoped that God would take into account the days I had
spent, my labours, my hardships, and sacrifices. With
a mistaken zeal, perhaps, for the glory of God and the
salvation of my neighbour, I had, without doubt, been
imprudent, and thus hastened the ruin of my health.
But, can man be always a sure judge in his own cause ?
I might have often deceived myself ; but, having acted
only from the best intentions, I had some ground to
trust to the mercy and goodness of God.

Full of these sweet thoughts, that battled with the
sadness of my soul, I at last fell asleep on the sea-weed
upon the strand, beneath the starry heavens, and
lulled asleep, as it w^ere, by the monotone of the waves
breaking on the lee-shore.

I devoted the next day to visiting the occupants
of this wretched village, composed mostly of little,
wooden houses, extremely low, and built up against the
sand-banks. I found here two Irish families, with
whom I passed two long hours, chatting about green
Erin, their dear, native land, with its poetic memories,
the privileged land of fairies, ghosts, ballads, and
legends.

In the evening, the few families come down to en-
joy a bath in the tepid waters of the gulf. I went
with my esteemed Captain, who never left me. I then
passed over to the other side of the river, and set foot
on Mexican soil, to visit Bagdad, another village, situ-
ated near the mouth of the Rio Grande. This wretched

356

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

place bore no resemblance to the oriental town, once
the abode of Harnn-al-Rashid. Some reed huts,
plastered with mud and oyster shells, gave shelter to
a dozen Mexican families, whose existence was a pro-
blem to me, for, to a distance of twenty miles all round,
there seems no trace of cultivation. Sometimes there
arrives at Bagdad a sloop from Tampico, loaded with
bananas, ananas, cocoa nuts, and lemons. These fruits
are immediately exported to Matamoros and Browns-
ville, where they find a good market. Near my Cap-
tain's house I observed large, wooden edifices, half in
ruins, inhabited by Americans, who spent their exist-
ence in fishing and hunting. In the evenings, before
sunset, they meet to smoke, to read the papers aloud,
and to discuss politics. Eccentricity and feelings of
independence must be pushed far enough to make
people live thus in deserts, without name or shade,
and spend in solitude and inaction a life without
aim.

Brazos Santiago not being more than four miles
from the mouth of the Kio Grande, I went there on foot
with the Captain. We followed the beach. The strand
was strewn over with a triple row of wrecks, for
the most part half buried in the sand. As we walked
along, we discovered an enormous quantity of table
glass, five barrels of old brandy, which had been there
for many years, and three hogsheads of rum, bearing
date 1825. We then crossed a narrow channel, only
two feet deep, which took us to the island in which
Brazos is situated. On entering the island, I met an
Irish family that lived on the produce of oyster fishing.
The oyster banks, which are very numerous on the
Texian coast, are almost at the water's edge, which ren-

BRAZOS SANTIAGO.

357

ders the fishing easy. I observed, near the Irish cabin,
hens picking the open oysters — they lived upon them.
There was also a horse, but I dared not ask what pro-
vender they gave him : I feared they might answer
" Oysters."

At Brazos I baptized a child ; but having little to do,
I returned the same evening to the mouth of the Kio
Grande. To pass the time, the Captain and myself
chanted the litany of the blessed Virgin. The Captain
loved music much, and especially the litany ; and when
we were alone, he often said to me, " Let us sing the Ora
pro nobis ; it is so pretty." What a duet — an invalid
priest and a Jew chanting the praises of Mary !

After a rest of eight days in these parts, I returned
to Brownsville by land. The route over upwards of
fifteen miles, passes through vast swampy plains, covered
with jungle. Midway, I saw a neat rancho, situated on
a small elevation, and shaded with beautiful green oaks.
I stayed a short time, to drink some milk, and to know if
the rancheros had need of my ministry. I then entered
rich pastures, in which large flocks of sheep roamed
and bleated at pleasure.

Eeturned to Brownsville, I was obliged to desist
from my extensive missions, and to confine my visits
to the sick. I seldom preached, not even on Sundays.
I had seen the last of my strength. Every sermon cost
me oceans of blood, issuing from my shattered lungs.
My nervous, spasmodic fits had become so frequent,
that I was also forced to abstain from celebrating the holy
sacrifice during the week.

About the middle of the year, we celebrated at Santa
Rita the feast of our Lady of Guadalupe, the pa-
tron saint of the Mexicans. The principal proprietor at

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358

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Santa Rita, intending to go to live at Bahia, wished, for
the last time, to impart to this feast all possible solemnity.
For this end he invited singers and several others from
Brownsville. On the eve of the feast, about twenty-five
of us went on horseback, conducted by this rich ran-
chero, who started off at a gallop, all following through
clouds of dust, raised by the horses' hoofs.

On our arrival at Santa Rita, we found seven or eight
hundred rancheros, assembled from the surrounding
country. As this crowd could find no cabins to sleep
in, it divided itself into groups, which encamped in the
gardens, in the court-yards, and even in the streets and
squares of the rancho. There was a large square in
the centre of the rancho. The chapel, situated to the
north of the place, and made with stakes, sunk in the
earth, and potter's clay, had a thatched roof. The
belfry, which was completely separated from the body
of the church, was of the shape of a gibbet and mounted
two old Mexican clocks.

Shortly after nightfall, we repaired to the chapel.
The litany of the blessed Virgin was sung in chorus, as
also vespers, and then we formed a procession by
torch-light. Young girls in white bore on a pole,
ornamented with streamers, flowers, and draperies, an
image of the patroness of the Mexicans. They were
followed by musicians playing the violin and mando-
line, while I walked alone after them, and the people
followed close behind. All bore lighted torches or
lanterns in their hands, and recited the rosary aloud.
As we passed in front of a cabin, the procession was
saluted by the discharge of a gun, a rocket, or musket.

I rarely witnessed a more interesting spectacle. These
white gowns, that portable altar, covered with lights and

A EIDE AND A HEARTY BREAKFAST.

359

flowers, these torches, this singing in the midst of
silence and darkness, made a deep impression. After
the ceremony came the amusements. For an hour the
men assailed one another with harmless rockets, which
were thrown and exploded amidst bursts of laughter ;
and as no feast, even religious, terminates without a
fandango, the dancing saloon was fixed in a spot where
the grass was shorter and more sparse. Coffee was kept
boiling in a huge kettle, and distributed gratuitously ;
and the dance opened. The crowd assembled for the cele-
bration of the feast being greater than had been expected,
provisions soon became scarce, and coffee alone remained.
Experience had taught me what noise is made on such
occasions ; I therefore went to spend the night beneath a
fig tree, away from the ball. Next morning I offered
the holy sacrifice in the chapel, and preached for the
last time.

After mass, the greater part of the guests were half
starved, and loth enough to return home fasting. I
was of the number, and therefore proposed to go and
have breakfast at the rancho of Dona Stefanita,
situated three miles from Santa Rita. We set off on
horseback, to the number of thirty. Dona Stefanita,
a small, shrivelled old woman, placed at our disposal,
with patriarchal generosity, her poultry-yard and her
provisions. A goat, some hens, and melons supplied us
with an abundant breakfast. Barring the Irish, I know
of no people who exercise such cordial hospitality as the
Mexicans.

In the month of March, 1852, Matamoros was
honoured by a visit from a high government func-
tionary of Mexico, General Don Emanuel Robbies,
minister of war and of marine. By his valour and skill

A A 4

360

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

lie obtained a just celebrity during the siege of Mexico
by the Americans. He then set about satisfying him-
self, personally, as to the military requirements of the
frontiers. Having formed a design for the moral im-
provement of the people, and knowing the necessity of
government support for its realisation, I got myself
introduced to the general by the Mexican consul at
Brownsville. I told him that I found a large population
along the banks of the Rio Grande made little account
of by staticians, and which, being abandoned to itself,
was losing, gradually, its religion and its nationality.
The children of the more comfortable classes were sent
to the United States, to receive an education, some-
times prejudicial to their religious convictions, always
to the detriment of their nationality. I offered to go
to Rome to lay the question before the Cardinal Prefect
of the Propaganda, and to ask him to divide those
frontiers into regular, distinct missions, conducted by
active, zealous priests, and numerous enough to found
colleges and impart instruction.

" What will become of Mexico,'' I said, " before these
Yankee invaders, who have already taken from it Texas,
New Mexico, and California, if you do not make that
sentiment which is the firmest bond of patriotism, the
sentiment of religion, strike deep roots in the Mexican
heart?"

In reality, the Mexican question is big with interest,
for it presents the battle of an infant people that wishes
to shake off its swathing bands, and to rise from the
deep rut into which the jealousy of the mother country
threw it, by reserving to herself extravagant monopolies.
In spite of the concessions and liberal laws of Charles
III., in 1778, Mexico has been crippled by the restric-

PROSPECTS OF MEXICO.

3G1

tive commercial system, and the systematic preference
accorded to Spanish-born merchants. Thus, after its
declaration of independence, in 1822, the new empire
had to encounter unheard-of difficulties in its fresh
political organisation. After the reign of ifurbide,
which lasted only one year, came the Republic, which
had to combat at once incapacity and ambition. All
the chiefs of the work of independence would seize for
themselves the fruits of victory ; and, instead of uniting
to commence the work of reform, political and com-
mercial, they made war on one another, sometimes
covert, sometimes overt, but which always ended in
the overthrow of one of the idols of the hour. The
incapacity and venality of the government, joined to the
apathy of the governed, have made the history of this
charming country a series of risings ('pronunciamientos),
which have often deluged Mexico and the provinces with
blood. Part of the army obeyed the general who im-
mediately commanded, and fought against the section
commanded by another general. The administration
was always seized upon by the partisans of the presi-
dent, who frequently saw power snatched from his
hands by an emeute. The ordinances of government,
both fiscal and administrative, marked as they were
with the seal of official incapacity in political economy,
were but ill-suited to the particular requirements of the
distant provinces. The president, who forced him-
self on the country, was generally the officer most
adroit or daring. These men, while they upheld order
by force and energy, enacted reforms to meet the mo-
mentary necessities of the government, but which had
the effect of impoverishing the provinces, and curbing
commercial enterprise, under the pretext of developing

362

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

the internal resources of the country. A lame and false
pretext, for in paralysing the commerce of the provinces
the rulers destroyed the means essential to the develop-
ment of private industry.

In the old Spanish provinces a general wins his
epaulettes without much ado ; but in a rising republic the
sword which rules and maims must give place to mind,
which organises and directs the general interest. But,
unfortunately, the Mexican generals were not all en-
dowed with administrative faculties of this order.

If Mexico still feels her way to get out of this slough,
and to go forward in the way of progress and civilisa-
tion— if she has within her so many disorganising
elements, how can she resist this colossus, ever astir,
this neighbour so ambitious and unscrupulous in his
manner of invasion, which has his foot ever on her neck
to carry off her fairest provinces ? Empires, like men,
require the experience of suffering. The experience of
others rarely profits any one. Mexico, if she means to
rise to the level of European civilisation, and oppose an
impassable barrier to the Yankees of the United States,
must fight and suffer more. But in the end she will
succeed, for she has the principle of vitality within her,
great intellects, great passions, and even patriotism.
For the moment all this seems to slumber, but its
waking hour is drawing near. Force is not enough
to swallow up a country. Besides, the United States
have a hideous sore that consumes them — slavery. In
discussing those questions of the future, I observed to
Don Emanuel Robbies —

" Mexico possesses the fairest and the richest provinces
in the world, and the Catholic faith is a powerful
weapon of defence against American aggression. She

THE SPIRIT WILLING BUT THE FLESH WEAK. 363

will never be ruled by a Protestant country. The days
of conflict and trial may return ; then shall bold and
intelligent minds rise up, made more numerous by
religious training, which enlarges the intellectual
powers of each man, gives all serious ideas of their
duties as Christians and as citizens, makes them feel
by a more accurate knowledge of the gospel and moral
precepts all the dignity of their nature, teaches them to
give God what is due to Him, and Caesar what is due
to him, that is, to their country."

Don Emanuel Robbies perfectly understood the bear-
ing of my project, and the national benefit that would
be its result. He gave it his approval, and gave me
letters of recommendation to the Mexican minister, at
the court of the Holy Father. I communicated my
views to Don Raphael, who was to accompany me to
Rome, and who had a letter from General Arista for
the very same purpose.

By this time I had no more strength left me. My
works could no longer keep pace with my will, no
longer could I pursue my duties. Nervous spasms,
fainting fits, spitting of blood, forbade the smallest
fatigue. The priests promised to be sent to my aid
had not arrived. I went to Galveston to see after them,
and to inform my ecclesiastical superiors of the absolute
necessity of my returning to France. I then returned to
Brownsville, where, for a month longer, a martyr to
sufferings, I was dragging along an exhausted frame, a
spent existence, without ever stirring from that town
that I loved so much, and which, for the space of eighteen
months, was witness to my energy, ardour, and zeal,
such as it was, in running about in all directions to
succour the unfortunate.

3G4

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

Three priests of the Oblats of Mary were to replace
me in the month of September. I was resolved to
depart in the end of that month. My departure was
sadder this time than when I left Castroville, for a
return was out of the question. I was like one of those
worn-out instruments, no longer of use, which are hung
up in a corner to become gradually the prey of rust.
Except a place of retreat and a last asylum, of which I
had none, I resembled those military invalids, whom
honoured scars have deprived of their means. I felt sad
— much less indeed from the egotistical thought of a
wintry future, of a clouded threatening horizon, towards
which I was about to proceed, than from the deep affec-
tion I bore these strange people, to whom I had become
thoroughly accustomed, an affection but too well re-
turned. I had much difficulty in tearing myself away
from the families which I was visiting for the last time.
I felt as if I were one of them.

In fine, after my last adieu, I threw myself into a coach
that was starting to Brazos. Among the passengers
was a creole woman with an infant at her breast ; she
was going to New Orleans to rejoin her husband. The
mother and the child, of whom I knew nothing, were
recommended to me by an American, of whom I knew
just as much. These recommendations, which would
look so odd in Europe, are quite matters of course in
the United States. They are quite honouring — but in
general strangers have no desire to assume the responsi-
bility of watching over unknown ladies during a con-
siderable journey, and especially as they treat you with
incredible unceremoniousness and freedom.

Arrived at Brazos I again saw my old friend Captain
Moses, who had not grown more handsome. He made

DETENTION BY STORM.

365

me a present of several Indian silk handkerchiefs and
filled my pockets with boiled prawns, as prog for the
journey. We both wept sincerely in giving the parting
embrace. This was the last mark of sympathy that I
was to meet in this strange land. What a singular
coincidence ! The first was given by an Episcopalian ;
the last by a Jew.

A storm detained us eight days in the gulf. On the
21st of September, at midnight, we struck upon an oyster
bank, and were for two hours hanging between life and
death. A ship was wrecked a couple of hundred yards
or so from us ; and at the mouth of the Mississippi, we
observed another on fire. I made no stay anywhere
during my journey. I was unfortunate enough to
have some fresh recommendations to Paris — recom-
mendations which occasioned me a world of embarrass-
ment and annoyance.

I remained a few days at Lyon in the bosom of my
family, and then pursued my journey to Eome. My
project for establishing Mexican missions was approved
of by the judicious and zealous Secretary of the Propa-
ganda; but before its accomplishment it should meet
with the sanction of the Mexican prelacy. I reckoned on
returning to Mexico to obtain this necessary sanction :
but alas ! man proposeth, God disposeth. Man's power is
very limited here below. Bodily infirmities obliged me
to remain some time in Italy. Medical skill declared
my active career at an end — at an end, alas ! when the
greater part of my confreres were hardly commencing
theirs.

And now, in the hours of solitude, the recollections of
the past group themselves in sad array before my
mind, like pictures always present, spreading over my

366

TEXAS AND MEXICO.

soul a sweet and dreamy melancholy, of which I can-
not divest it. European life is to me cold, colourless,
pitiful. My regards, for ever turned towards those old
solitudes, those deserts peopled with dangers and red
skins, tawny animals, and rattle snakes, could not rest
on this narrow horizon, whither my sufferings had
conducted me. The cloister smiled before me like a
desert-island, in which I might seek shelter after ship-
Avreck. Seated on the banks of life's rapid torrent, I see
before my view these even now distant pages of my
existence, like so many leaves transported on the wings
of the wind towards the ocean of eternity. And with a
tear trembling in the eye, and a sigh quivering on the
lip, I murmur with my Master — " Lord, let thy will be
done."

THE END.

LONDON:

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